Zambian-born social enterprise founder named Commonwealth Youth Worker of the Year 2016

Robin Lockhart, the founder of a social enterprise which supports at-risk teenagers and young adults through music and sport, has been named Commonwealth Youth Worker of the Year. 

The Briton, who was born in Zambia, received the accolade at the 2016 Commonwealth Youth Worker Awards. 

He was one of five outstanding youth workers recognised for the awards, which this year celebrate those using sport and the creative arts to inspire and support young people. 

The director of Catalyst In Communities, a social enterprise based in east London, works with football clubs, musicians and other artists to help young people reject crime and abusive relationships and aspire for a better future. 

On receiving his award, he appealed for greater investment in youth work as a means of supporting young people and addressing divisions in society: “It is an honour to receive an award such as this,” he said. 

“Youth work for me is investing in the future. Nobody goes into this field of work for awards, we do it because we’re passionate and we care.” 

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland, who presented the awards at a ceremony on Thursday 10 November at the Commonwealth Secretariat’s headquarters, Marlborough House, in London, stated: “I salute the hugely impressive recipients of these 2016 Commonwealth Youth Worker Awards. They represent thousands of youth workers across the Commonwealth whose work to empower and engage our young people too often goes unsung and unrecognised. It is of immense and enduring value in building resilient communities and overcoming the economic and social divisions that create vulnerability – locally, national and globally.” 

“Through these annual awards, the Commonwealth seeks progressively to raise the profile of the youth work profession, a sector which makes a real difference to individual and national wellbeing. Let the commitment and impact of the youth workers we are recognising be an inspiration to policy-makers, peers and young people everywhere.” 

The Commonwealth Youth Worker Awards were announced during Youth Work Week 2016, which runs from 7-13 November. The theme of the week this year is ‘Empowering young people through sport and arts’, acknowledging the creative and innovative techniques employed by youth workers to deliver effective youth empowerment programmes. 

The recipients were chosen from a shortlist of 20 youth work professionals from 14 countries: Australia, Belize, Fiji, Guyana, Jamaica, India, Kenya, Malta, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Tonga and the UK.