Special Presentation For Teenager Who Turned Duncan Down

SPECIAL PRESENTATION FOR TEENAGER WHO TURNED DUNCAN DOWN

Bournville Village Trust is honouring young superstar Wayne Jeremy at a special event on February 14th, 2008, when Trustees and Senior Officers gather to celebrate his Shaw Trust national STAR Award. Your photographer and reporter are welcome to join us at 12.30pm in the BVT Boardroom in the Estate Office, Oak Tree Lane Bournville, Birmingham .

DELIGHTED members of the Bournville Village Trust team have organised a special presentation to mark the tremendous achievement of a young apprentice who turned down the chance to pick up a national Shaw Trust STAR Award because he didn't want to take time off work.

Kings Norton teenager Wayne Jeremy, 17, missed out on meeting Dragon's Den entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne OBE at the London ceremony, but Bournville Village Trust (BVT) Trustee Duncan Cadbury, whose forefathers established the Trust in 1900, and senior officers are gathering to make a big fuss of their hardworking star.

"We didn't know Wayne had declined the invitation until it was too late, otherwise we would have insisted he attend," says BVT's Director of Contracting Services, Rodney Smith, who has organised the February 14 event.

"We are delighted that his hard work has been recognised in this way, and wanted to show him how proud we are of his achievements."

Rodney has laid on a celebratory lunch for Wayne , senior officials, Trustees, Wayne 's Supervisors Martin Delaney and Derek Hemus and his Shaw Trust Young People's Services (YPS) team of Anne Lynch and Sarah Walsh. Also present will be Tradesmen David Beard and Darren Underhill , with whom Wayne spends his working days, when he's not at college.

Bournville Village Trust was also praised for supporting Wayne and other young people at the STAR Awards, organised by national charity Shaw Trust, which provides employment services for those disadvantaged by disability, ill health or social circumstances.

BVT gave Wayne his big break by offering his a work placement when Wayne was referred to Shaw Trust's YPS after being repeatedly excluded from school. "He was struggling at school, but immediately shone at his work placement and eventually landed a coveted apprenticeship. He has worked his socks off to get where he is and turn his life around," says Shaw Trust training and placement officer Anne Lynch, whose young client was named a Midlands regional STAR before being crowned at the national ceremony in November.

Modest Wayne says he is honoured that BVT has organised a special ceremony just for him. "I really didn't want to take time off for the national award ceremony and I didn't think for a minute that I'd get another award, but I am thrilled to have won," he says.

"I'm determined to do well for my dad Eddie, for Shaw Trust, who have done so much for me and for Bournville Village Trust, who have given me such a big chance to prove myself."

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. For further details, please contact Shaw Trust Marketing Manager Sara Lyddy on 07980 733468, or PR Officer Becky Gammon on 07779 784901. Or you can email: crucialpr@shaw-trust.org.uk

2. Shaw Trust is a national charity, formed in 1982, which helps people with disability or disadvantage to find work and achieve independence. We do this not only by delivering government programmes, but also through our own self-funded initiatives, and by campaigning to change attitudes at all levels.

3. Across the UK more than 1,200 staff now oversee a diverse range of more than 200 projects.

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