I would like to welcome everyone here this evening and to thank the Jack Petchey Foundation, for inviting me to present the Awards.

It is an honour and a privilege, as well as a great pleasure.

I know that I shall be extremely impressed by the achievements of all those who are to receive an Award, and you can all be very proud of yourselves and, on behalf of everyone here, I congratulate you.

Sir Jack Petchey himself started from humble beginnings in the East End of London, at the bottom you might say, but with determination and hard work, he is an achiever.

He is an inspiration to us all, and through his generosity of purpose, his Foundation encourages and recognises the achievements of young people. All of us have challenges to face and overcome, and it takes great courage and determination to move forward to succeed in something that you want to do.

It may be something that could be considered quite a small step, but to each and every one of you it is a personal milestone and you will get there -you will achieve!

Your journey to successful achievement need not end with this evening, you have just begun – so hold on to a purpose, to a goal or to a dream – keep striving and committing to it, it will happen!

I will just finish by saying thank you to all of you for coming along this evening, the Award Winners and their Teacher and Leaders, friends an families.

Also, a very big “‘Thank you’· to everyone who has been involved in the organisation of this evening’s event.