The Johnny Denman Award 2022

The 2022 Johnny Denman Award for the members of staff who have made the most notable contributions towards volunteering in 2022 has been awarded jointly to Oli Curl and Charlie Douglas.

The panel of judges for the award were delighted to receive a number of really strong entries this year and it is very much hoped that this trajectory of engagement will continue as Lycetts endeavours to promote volunteering activities across the board.

Oli Curl – The Norfolk Boat

Oli volunteers for the Norfolk Boat charity, which provides bursaries for offshore sail training to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with disabilities, in Norfolk and the surrounding area. Oli spends several hours a week fulfilling her role as secretary to the charity.

In this role Oli reviews and contacts potential charities and schools that may wish, or who have applied for funding. In 2022 Oli processed funding applications for 140 individuals to sail last year who, without the support of the Norfolk Boat, would never have had the opportunity to sail and have this experience.

Oli plans to continue to grow awareness of the charity with the aim of consistently sending over 200 plus individuals sailing from 2024 and, without losing focus on the Norfolk demand, increase geographical limits to include Suffolk as and when applications are made that fulfil the criteria.

The Lycetts award will enable the charity to send more young people on voyages and give the charity greater capacity to reach out further.

On receiving the award Oli commented; “The Norfolk Boat is a fantastic charity that offers experiences to children which they would not otherwise have as most of our applicants are on supported food meals from the government or suffer from disabilities that would otherwise prevent them from sailing. There is such a range of children and the feedback is fantastic and in some cases utterly life changing. Notably, we have put three boys from the same family through a voyage – and the eldest has gone on to be a crew member for the boat in question that they sailed on!”

Charlie Douglas – Rocklands Community Primary School and Wymondham College Prep School

Charlie’s entry appealed to the judging panel as she is involved with two education related charities. Her involvement varies across the year, but adds up to a consistent number of hours on a weekly basis.

Rocklands Community Primary School – this is a small village school with 76 children on the roll from just 40 families. The building is an old Victorian building and the facilities are very tired. Charlie is a Governor and Treasurer of the Friends of Rocklands School (FORS), which is a small team of parents trying to make a difference to the school and facilitating the cost of trips and equipment to further the education and experience of the children attending the school. The school motto is “Small School – Big Heart – Great Expectations” and the PTA plays an important role in supporting this.

In the longer term Charlie hopes that more children will be attracted to attend Rocklands Community Primary School, which is a huge benefit to both the school and the local community. The village of Rocklands is a small rural village in Norfolk and is blessed to have a community village shop – which does a roaring trade around school drop-off and pick-up times!

Wymondham College Prep School – this is a new state school which has only been open for three years. Their facilities are limited due to the focus having been on building the actual school and sorting out the infrastructure. Charlie volunteers as the Communications Officer for the Friends of Wymondham College Prep School (FOWCP) and also volunteers on forest school days to assist the teachers and forest school leader to ensure that the children are safe, warm and enjoying the outdoor opportunities for learning.

Being able to provide an outdoor classroom and learning area will be a facility that will be used for many years to come at Wymondham College Prep School. This will be linked to the Forest School provision, but will also be utilised for other outdoor learning opportunities and the intention is that the school has a garden and vegetable area so the children are able to learn about how things grow and where their food comes.

On receiving the award Charlie commented; “I am thrilled to be able to split the prize equally so that each organisation can benefit, it means a huge amount to both schools. Having a very small pool of parents at Rocklands means that we are always asking the same parents to donate. It is really wonderful to give the FORS bank account a significant boost. FOWCP are getting so close to their fund raising target of £12,000 it is great to be able to give them a further boost, putting the outdoor classroom within reaching distance.”

Johnny was a great giver, not in the financial sense but in his time for others. This award honours his memory and he would have been delighted to know that it had been made to two such great causes.