BBQ Summer Celebration event

Due to the pandemic and being unable to have a formal celebration event as previous years. At TRAIN we felt we needed to celebrate those young people who have engaged with us over the last 18months via online platforms and face to face when allowed. We hosted this ‘Summer BBQ Celebration’ at the Southern Great Western Park Community Centre, Morelands Rd. This is also where we host our youth club on a Tuesday and Friday evening. We had lots of young people with families and friends attending and celebrating how well the young people have done over the last year. The celebration had a Hawaiian theme and had lots of activities going on from table tennis to an inflatable limbo. Also, with lots of food for everyone! Due to this being a less formal event we gave out awards we have given in previous years with a couple of new ones to recognize characters such as the ‘Double act award’. But this year was the first time that the ‘Michael Howlett Award’ was presented. This award was formally known as the ‘Inspiring Young Person Award’, and this was a special way of honoring the hard work and dedication of our former Chair of Trustees Michael Howlett who passed away in 2019. This award was handed out by our current Chair Brian McNamee, who knew Michael and was able to share more about who Michael was and the great work he put into TRAIN. Going forward next year marks 20years of Didcot TRAIN and we plan to mark this with an extra special celebration event. Thanks to everyone who came!

The TRAIN team