Local Heroes Honoured with Awards Ceremony

On Thursday 23^rd October 2014 New Directions Education attended the Wire FM Local Hero Awards. The event is ran annually to recognise and honour those individuals across Warrington, Widnes and Runcorn who have gone above and beyond, who always give so much back to the communities they live and work within.

The event, held at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Runcorn was hosted by local radio personalities Dominic Walker and Vicky Warham. Throughout the evening a total of 13 awards were presented including the ‘Teacher of the Year’ award sponsored by New Directions Education. The winner of this prestigious award was given to a very deserving Keily Hampson who runs the ELLA drama group in Runcorn.

Keily was given the award after the judging panel received this nomination:

Keily runs a drama group called ELLA in Runcorn. They do fantastic productions each year at the Brindley and she works so hard with this group of special needs adults and children. It is also an inclusion group and they achieve fantastic results. They have appeared at DAD at Walton Hall for the last four years. As a parent I never thought my daughter Hannah would be able to perform on a stage with all the confidence of a professional. This is all down to Keily and her fantastic support team including Rachel Lindsey. Keily works for Halton Speak Up in Runcorn. There are many other parents that would back my statement up. Her dedication and commitment goes beyond all our expectations. The whole group love her!’.

Speaking about the winner and the awards – Sean Peloe from New Directions said ‘It was a privilege to attend these awards, the stories behind all the awards were touching in their own way, and many a tear was shed during the evening. It was also a great honour to be able to present the teacher of the year award to Keily, when you read the nomination it is clear that the work Keily and her team does helps break down barriers for pupils with additional needs and create an inclusive learning environment for everyone’.