FIYA Awards Evening 2022

On Wednesday 26 October, we held our Forum for Independent Young Adults Awards evening at WS10 Banqueting and Conferencing Suite in Wednesbury and what a fantastic night it turned out to be! It was great to see so many young people in attendance alongside the FIYA representatives.

Along with Emma Taylor, Chief Executive and Steven Gauntley, Director of Resources, we welcomed The Worshipful Mayor – Councillor Richard Jones, Lead Member for Children and Education – Councillor Simon Hackett and Councillor Giles from Sandwell MBC.

We were joined by Managers and staff from across the Trust and the Council as well as many of our partners. We were also pleased to have some of our sponsors in the room:

Education Star - West Midlands Combined Authority
Employment Star - Black Country Training Group
Sports Hero - Sandwell Leisure Trust
Independent Star - The Welland Trust & NHS England
Life Changer - KRUNCH Sandwell
Positive Role Model - Heart of England (MI Glass)
Inspiration Award - LACE Virtual School
Community Champion - The Tipton & Coseley Building Society
Creative Arts Award - Creative Academies

The premiere of our powerful housing video was launched and everyone appreciated the work that has gone into this project not only from our young people but also from our colleagues in Krunch. Special thanks to Jon Grant and the team who made this video possible.

The official part of the evening ended with a fantastic performance from GAP entertainment who were sensational.

The party then continued with some great tunes from DJ Unknown. It was brilliant to see everyone enjoying themselves and there were some really good moves on the dancefloor!

A massive thank you to everyone who helped organise the event and particular thanks to our young people who compered it with so professionally.

We can’t wait to do it all again next year!