Sebastian Coe Presents Personal Best Graduation Awards
Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) presented awards on 13th May to residents of the London Boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow and Hillingdon who have recently graduated from the Personal Best volunteer programme designed to use the 2012 Games to improve long-term employment prospects in London.
Graduates from the scheme meeting the basic entry criteria are guaranteed an interview for the forthcoming London 2012 Games-time volunteer programme. The scheme, targeting socially disadvantaged NEETs (Not in Employment, Education or Training), is being managed across the three boroughs by the Hammersmith and Fulham Volunteer Centre (HFVC) and has seen Personal Best Graduates go on to secure employment, take up further studies or volunteering opportunities.
Graduate award winner and Hammersmith & Fulham resident, Natasha Hamilton, a full-time mother joined the Personal Best programme in September 2009 looking to improve her confidence as well as gain new skills and experience to obtain an office administration role. Following a volunteering placement as a Project Assistant she has now successfully obtained paid employment in an administration role for a project helping others find volunteering and employment opportunities. Natasha said, ‘Personal Best has been fantastic! I’ve got employment as a result and I am now enjoying encouraging others to join the programme. What you put in, you really get out of the course’.
Poonam Mittal from Hillingdon, who also received a graduation award from Lord Coe, has said that the Personal Best programme has transformed her in a number of ways, providing her with a confidence boost that has resulted in her undertaking volunteer administration work and is now actively seeking paid employment.
Fellow award winner, Kemit Singh, also from Hillingdon, who was the first person to graduate from the Personal Best course said, ‘I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved and it was great to speak to Seb Coe today who made me realise I could perhaps be an inspiration to others!’
The Personal Best programme is being delivered in partnership across the three boroughs with Nichols Employment Agency and Renaissance Skills supporting in Hammersmith & Fulham; Harrow College in Harrow; Train’d Up in Hillingdon.
For further information please contact Libby March of HFVC on 0208 741 9876 or email libby@hfvc.org.uk. More information on the Personal Best programme can be found at the
Personal Best Programme website
"With just 115 Thursdays to go until the start of the 2012 Games, it is a real pleasure to meet West London residents who are making use of the Games to further their ambitions. The Hammersmith and Fulham Volunteer Centre has achieved a personal best of its own with the delivery of the scheme and I wish the graduates and new recruits every success with their future plans.”
Sebastian Coe - Chair of LOCOG
"We are delighted and proud to see our Personal Best graduates honoured in this way following their hard work and excellent progression as a result of the programme. We have engaged with over 1,000 local residents and it is great to start to see the results of the work we have been doing. Personal Best is an excellent initiative that is making a real difference to local people, helping them to overcome their personal barriers to be able to do volunteering, paid employment or training to acquire new skills."
Marion Schumann - Director of HFVC
