The St Albans District Chamber annual Awards ceremony
The St Albans District Chamber of Commerce held their annual Community Business Awards to celebrate the achievements of local businesses and entrepreneurial individuals including young employees, sustainability champions and business leaders. The Community Business Awards took place on Friday 14th October at Sopwell House.
Our Fundraising Manager, Rachel, was honoured to attend the awards thanks to our corporate partner, Lumin Wealth who organised a charity raffle in aid of Youth Talk. With the help of St Albans business members, we raised a tremendous £1,835 in support of our local young people’s mental health.
Before the Award ceremony itself commenced, Rachel, had the opportunity to share a few words to inform, engage and inspire guests about the counselling service Youth Talk provide. Rachel spoke of the positive impact we have on the lives of young people in our community. But with these positives come a significant urgency.
Youth Talk are able to offer 80-100 counselling sessions a week. However, 100 local young people are currently waiting for our help. With prices rising and the days getting shorter and colder, demand is set to continue to increase.
“The Awards ceremony was a fantastic celebration. Massive thank you to Lumin Wealth for organising the raffle with the Chamber and for the opportunity to not only raise much-needed funds but vital awareness of our service amidst the local business community.”
Rachel Simkin, Fundraising Manager
Young Employee Award
Lumin Wealth also sponsored the ‘Young Employee’ award. This year, the award was presented by 2021’s winner Joe Fisher – Financial Planning Manager at Lumin Wealth. He knows first-hand how challenging and meaningful this award is to win and was delighted to be part of the judging process and introduce the award on the evening. Joe had this to say:
“It is a pleasure to be involved in supporting a local charity that provides such a vital service to young people, especially after a tough couple of years in the wake of the pandemic. Our commitment to supporting young people in the local area is also realised through our Academy, which provides a pathway into the financial planning industry for aspiring young financial advisers“
Joe Fisher, Financial Planning Manager at Lumin Wealth
The Academy is evidence of Lumin Wealth’s commitment to the care and upskilling of our local young people. They were pleased to welcome their second intake into the Academy at the start of October after a successful first year. It is an unfortunate fact that if the young people in our community do not get the right support when it’s needed, then the future of our city could be at real risk. This is what Lumin’s partnership with Youth Talk is all about – supporting future generations.
New Business Award winner
We are also delighted to announce that the winner of the 2022 New Business Award Buff & Bare, owned by Kristina Snarskiene, has chosen to support Youth Talk.
This new partnership is a very happy consequence of the Awards ceremony, proving the huge value of networking opportunities like this. We look forward to working with Buff & Bare who will be instrumental in helping us continue to provide support for the young people in our local.
Rachel Simkin, Fundraising Manager at Youth Talk shared,
“I had several moving conversations with parents who sadly have children really struggling at the moment. Guests could immediately connect with the importance of our counselling service and resonated with the need we’re experiencing.”
Photo Credits: Rebecca Fennell Photography
We need YOUR support, and that of the community, in order for us to continue providing the best possible mental health support for young people throughout St Albans.
Will you partner your business with Youth Talk, and help support the current and future employees and entrepreneurs within our community?
We are stronger together.
Our 25th Anniversary Celebration
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