Last year's Children's Champions winner
Doug Easterbrook - Barnardo’s Winner
Doug Easterbrook is passionate about giving youngsters a chance. The father of two joined Barnardo’s mentoring service in Caerphilly five years ago and has helped a number of disadvantaged young men get their lives back on track.
Jacob has been working with Doug for the past six months. In April he will be 16, but struggles with many aspects of teenage life that his peers take for granted.
Doug says:
He needed someone who wasn’t a teacher or a relative who he trusted to show him that there are better ways to deal with anger or frustration than getting into fights or hanging around with the wrong crowd at school.
Nicola Abrahams - Winner of the Judges Special Award
Nicola, a 37-year-old social work and counselling degree student from Cardiff, was given a special judges award in the News of the World Children’s Champion awards for her volunteering work at the Barnardo’s Cymru Seraf project.
Nicola has mentored a teenager who was groomed and then sexually exploited by a number of men, and she has also helped out in running groups for teenagers who may be vulnerable to exploitation.
Nicola, who was delighted to win the award, says:
I have really enjoyed volunteering with Barnardo’s Cymru and working with young people.
Going to Downing Street was amazing and I spoke to Jack Straw about the work we do at Barnardo’s. Then I went to the gala dinner and I was introduced to HRH Prince Andrew and met stars such as Shane Ritchie, Emma Bunton, Melinda Messenger, Paul O’Grady and actors from Coronation Street and the Soaps.
