The Joshua Ribera Awards 2022

The Joshua Ribera Achievement Awards February 2022

The Joshua Ribera Achievement Awards was set up by Alison Cope after losing her son Joshua to knife crime in 2013. Joshua was a young man who struggled in many areas of his life, but with support and love managed to turn it all around and become a positive and successful role model to many.

Since losing her son Alison has spoken to 1000's of young people sharing Joshua's devastating story to raise awareness around knife crime, inspiring young people to think about their choices and not to give up when facing difficulties. 

While delivering in many alternative education providers Alison met young people who had experienced a wide range of situations ranging from child abuse, neglect, trauma, being a young carer and experiencing  mental health issues. All these adverse situations had led their behaviour to deteriorate and for them to lose their place in main stream school.

Some of these young people excelled in alternative education provisions achieving academic success and personal development. The teachers and support staff do an amazing job helping these young people achieve their full potential.

In some cases once a young person is in alternative education they miss out on the opportunities available to those in main stream school for example end of year trips, the school prom, work experience and awards evening. 

The Joshua Ribera Achievement Awards is to celebrate the achievements of the young people who sometimes are forgotten and in Alison's opinion deserve to have their achievements celebrated. 

Alison Cope: "These young people have been through so much, their negative experiences have had a detrimental effect on their ability to cope with main stream education, it is our job to show these young people that past mistakes do not need to determine their future. The awards evening is a community event, the young people, their families, their teachers all come together proud and ready for the next phase of their life"


Any questions please contact Alison Cope:

[email redacted].uk

 www.alisoncope.com

Thank you for your support ❤