Some of the country’s brightest young people visited Stormont on Wednesday and were awarded medals by Paralympian Champion, Michael McKillop and Sir Robert Salisbury, for their work on the Inspire-Aspire programme.
The Inspire-Aspire Awards programme reached 35,000 young people this year by using the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the character qualities of Olympians to inspire young people to set personal goals and to develop future aspirations.
Winning a Silver medal at the event was Kaitlin Ward from Belfast Model School for Girls who chose Tom Daley as an inspirational figure as part of her work on the programme.
Explaining the reasons for her choice, Kaitlin said “I think Tom Daley is a huge inspiration to everyone because he has gone through a lot but doesn’t let anything get in his way.”
Before presenting the awards, double World Champion and Paralympic Gold medallist McKillop told a packed audience that it was being treated as an equal and his determination never to give up which had contributed to his success.
Inspire-Aspire aims to help young people gain a better understanding of their own character qualities and values and inspire them to create a personal development plan. Kaitlin Ward explained how much of an impact participating in Inspire-Aspire has had on her:
“I have learned more about myself, like what I’m good at and what I have to achieve.”
Congratulations Kaitlin, we are all very proud of you and we’ll look forward to seeing you achieve your goals!
