Over 70 guests gathered at JMW Solicitors on Byrom Street in Manchester to mark another amazing year for Mosaic in the North West. The event was hosted by Mosaic supporter, actress Afshan Azad, best known for playing the role of Padma Patil in the Harry Potter film series and featured a keynote speech from Tom Bloxham MBE.

Nafisa Hakim, Regional Manager for Mosaic North West said:

“It was wonderful to be able to gather together and celebrate with so many of our volunteer mentors. Our mentors freely give up their valuable time to help the young people from this region and without their continued support, we simply wouldn’t be celebrating our success here today.

“We want to thank all the mentors, companies and organisations who have tirelessly supported our programmes throughout the year and helped to inspire so many young local people.”

Mosaic NW has achieved some fantastic outcomes during the past 12 months including:

• Working with 40 schools across Manchester, Liverpool and Bolton – exceeding our target across all three programmes for the current academic year
• With the support of over 200 mentors, our programmes have impacted on the lives of over 950 beneficiaries
• Ladybridge High School came third in the Enterprise Challenge Grand finals

Keynote speaker was entrepreneur Tom Bloxham MBE, founder of urban renewal property development company Urban Splash. He commended Mosaic on its mentoring programmes and the ongoing need for dedicated, high quality mentors and the long term benefits of passing on their knowledge and expertise. Tom said:

“It was a great honour to be in the company of so many inspirational local mentors and to see what a positive impact their work is having on young people across the North West.

“I’m a great believer in the power of mentoring and it is encouraging to see such positive outcomes from the Mosaic programme in the local community. It’s not hard to see that the hard work and commitment being shown from mentors and mentees is really paying dividends. Long may it continue!”

Guests were also treated to a special musical performance by students from Chorlton High School.

Volunteer mentor Amsha Aslam was chosen on the night as Mosaic’s regional mentor of the year. She said:

“It feels great to be rewarded for all the hard work that I have put in.”

Special commendations were also given to Aurangzeb Farooq and Debbie Hunt for their outstanding contributions towards the Enterprise Challenge and group mentoring programme.