On Thursday 10 May 2012, Five Lamps held a Celebration Event at Tall Trees Hotel to mark another brilliant year for the organisation.
The event was a great success with around 250 people in attendance, including staff, customers and organisations such as Stockton Council and an extensive range of partner organisations who work closely with Five Lamps.
Five Lamps started as Thornaby Impasse in 1985 as a response to increasing unemployment in the local areas. Since then, the organisation has grown from strength to strength and has expanded the range of services it provides beyond helping people to find work, to helping people to start their own business, services and activities for young people and helping people who are struggling financially. Five Lamps also now provides services across the whole of the North East.
Graeme Oram, Chief Executive said
“We have had another great year, reaching increasing numbers of customers across all of our services. It’s also been a year where we have received recognition in a number of awards for the great work that our staff do. We have ambitious plans to continue our growth and impact, including refurbishment of empty homes and expanding our financial inclusion work”
As part of the organisation’s commitment to ‘Making People Matter’, awards were presented to 9 people to recognise the significant achievement they have made in overcoming a wide range of barriers, while being supported by Five Lamps. The winners were:
- Young Learner of the Year – Chloe Riordan
- Youth Award – Luke Dixon
- Learner of the Year – Mark Retchless
- Group Award – Urban Blitz
- Group Award – Five Lamps Recovery Group
- Enterprise Award – Lisa Smith
- Employability Award – Wayne Middleton
- Financial Inclusion Award – Graeme Duffy
- Derrick Brown Award – Amy Baker
One of the award winners was Urban Blitz, who received a ‘People Matter Award’ for the impact that the group has had on the local community.Len Junier, Five Lamps’ Divisional Manger Employability, who nominated the group for the award said
“Urban Blitz is a group of wonderful guys have made a real difference in the community that they themselves live in. A number of them now have jobs elsewhere, some of them want to go onto further training and a couple are going to stay with us. The guys get a real buzz when people stop them on the street and say that they are doing a good job”
Awards were also presented to other Five Lamps customers and staff who have overcome barriers, including Chloe Riordan and Luke Dixon who were commended as positive role models for other young people; Mark Retchless whose confidence has increased since he completed his NVQ; Five Lamps Recovery Group who are working together to overcome alcohol and drug addiction; Lisa Smith who started her child care business ‘Tummy Ticklers’ after being made redundant; Wayne Middleton and Amy Baker, who both have very strong work ethics and Graeme Duffy, who is working hard to turn his life around and start his own business.
Last year was a successful year for Five Lamps. They supported 341 people to start their own business, helped 619 people find work, supported over 11,742 people with personal and business loans and provided activities and services for over 500 young people.