Mahdlo youngsters honoured at awards

CONFIDENCE award . . . (from the left) nominees were Jason O’Keefe, Jane Vernon, Callum Wolstencroft, Abid Latif, Steven Hodson, Leah Hirons, Joshua Burlison, Alisha Ahmed, Anne-Marie Jones and Kelsie Leatherbarrow. They are pictured with Dave Lowe (Mahdlo)

ACHIEVEMENTS of Mahdlo members have been celebrated at the “Level Playing Field” awards.

The ceremony, the first of its kind at the Oldham Youth Zone, rewarded the young people taking part in Mahdlo’s inclusive ability sessions — young people aged eight to 25 with an additional need or disability.

The awards acknowledge progress and participation in areas such as inclusion, creativity, sports and independence.

Amy Taylor, ability co-ordinator at Mahdlo, said: “This has been a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge the achievements of our young people with additional needs or disabilities. Inclusion is at the core of what we do and we will continue to work hard to develop what we offer to ensure Mahdlo is accessible and inclusive for young people of all abilities. We hope everyone had a fantastic time — the team were proud to share in their successes.”

The A Level Playing Field project is a partnership between OnSide Youth Zones, such as Mahdlo, and the Seashell Trust, which supports over 1,200 disabled young people.

The project was launched in 2014 to address issues of limited facilities or services close to home for families with disabled children — and since then the number of young people with a disability using OnSide Youth Zones has increased by 300 per cent.

Mahdlo offers a range of accessible and inclusive activities including visually impaired cricket and wheelchair rugby. The Egerton Street centre also has a sensory room, adapted changing areas and family ability sessions.