John received the recognition for his years of dedicated service to the Scouting movement and to youth work in Glenavy. "I have been associated with the Scout movement all of my life,” John said. Advertisement Advertisement Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to NorthernIrelandWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.
"I was a Scout leader for 60 years and stood down when I was in my 70s.” As well as his work with the Scouts , which he joined in Belfast when he was just seven years of age, John is also the founder of a popular youth project in Glenavy which sees some 100 young people come through the doors throughout the week. "I have been involved in youth work in Glenavy for the last 18 years,” John explained.
"When we moved to Glenavy we got involved in the local community. I am a believer that if you in a community you should make and effort to get involved with what’s going on. Advertisement Advertisement "I went to a meeting and there were a lot of complaints about young people getting in trouble.
I stood up and said we needed to do something about it and I became a founding member of the youth club.” With funding from the Lough Neagh Partnership and Lisburn City Council, John was able to renovate an old derelict school building on Church of Ireland land in the village and it became the Glenavy Youth Project. “We have seven part time youth workers now, as well as volunteers,” John continued.
“We are open five nights a.