Award for Dagenham cricket coach who made videos to help people keep active during lockdown
Aidan Elmore with Essex Cricket's Feroze Khushi. Picture: Youth Sport Trust - Credit: Youth Sport Trust
A Dagenham man has won a Youth Sport Trust (YST) award for his work helping the community keep fit and active during lockdown.
Aidan Elmore, 22, impressed a panel of judges with his weekly online cricket sessions to families and young people during the March lockdown at a star-studded national award ceremony, marking the YST’s 25th anniversary.
The charity, which supports the health and wellbeing of young people through sports, hosted a virtual presentation ceremony attended by former Olympians Jeanette Kwakye, Rebecca Adlington and Team GB tennis player Emily Appleton.
The awards, supported by Sky Sports, celebrate the achievements of young activists tackling the issues facing their generation, now exacerbated by Covid-19 pandemic.
Aidan said: “I love supporting the community and really enjoyed creating the cricket videos over the first lockdown to keep people active through difficult times. Winning this award means everything.”
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Paralympic swimmer Ellen Keane presented Aidan with the Community Action Award in recognition of the support he has given to others and the personal journey he has undertaken to become a community activist.
Aidan, who has anxiety, became a community champion in 2018 as part of the YTS’s Breaking Boundaries scheme which connects young people, families and communities through playing cricket.
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After completing hundreds of volunteering hours, he qualified as a cricket coach and became a youth mentor.
As well as hosting his online cricket sessions, Aidan volunteered for his local council and sorted deliveries and food parcels at a food bank.
He even found time to support the east London food hub four mornings a week, providing hot meals to those in need.
Award judges remarked Aidan had gone over and above in his role as a mentor.
Ali Oliver, chief executive of the Youth Sport Trust, said: “Aidan is truly deserving of this award and has shown huge passion and commitment for activating change not just for himself, but for others around him.”
“The young people we are honouring have been empowered to use sport to address the issues that matter to their generation. I am incredibly proud of them all.”
