Over 60 Mosaic supporters gathered at Leeds Town Hall to help celebrate a remarkable year for Mosaic in Yorkshire.

Business leaders and volunteer mentors who have expertly supported Mosaic’s mentoring programmes during this academic year came together with the young people they have supported.

Tom Riordan, Chief Executive of Leeds City Council was the keynote speaker for the event, which was opened by entrepreneur and Mosaic ambassador Ajaz Ahmed.

Ibrar Ali, Regional Manager for Mosaic in Yorkshire commented:

“It’s great to be able to get  together and celebrate with so many of our corporate supporters and 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.”

Outstanding achievements in Yorkshire during the past academic year:

• Mosaic Yorkshire has worked with 58 schools across Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield,Rotherham, Huddersfield, Wakefield, Dewsbury, York, Hull, Keighley and Liversedge.
• With the support of over 200 mentors, our programmes have impacted on the lives of  1,300 beneficiaries.
• Spen Valley High School in Liversedge represented Yorkshire at the Enterprise Challenge National Final.

Tom Riordan said:

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

“I’m a great believer in the power of mentoring and it is encouraging to see such positive outcomes from the Mosaic programme across our region.

“The legacy of such important work will be felt for many years. It’s not hard to see that the teamwork, commitment and dedication shown from mentors and mentees is really paying dividends in communities that need it most.”

Mr Riordan also presented a number of outstanding mentors with awards. Waseem Khan was presented with the Mosaic Yorkshire Mentor of the Year award.

Special commendations were given to Jack Richard for his work on the Enterprise Challenge and Secondary mentoring.

Sadia Ahmad and Saiqa Khan-Khawaja were recognised for their outstanding achievements on Mosaic’s ex-offender mentoring programme and primary school programme respectively.