Antigone Award 2010

The Antigone Foundation was founded in 2007 by the philanthropist Martha Lane Fox and promotes the successes of socially excluded people. Antigone is supporting Just for Kids Law, allowing us to award young people with the ‘Antigone Award’. The award is given to a young person, engaged with JfK Law, who has made the most progress over the previous year in the face of serious hardship and adversity.

This year we received eight nominations for the award. One eighteen year old, involved in a street robbery and sentenced to six months in a Young Offenders Institution, has returned to school, secured a part time job and plans to train as a Youth Worker and attend an Oxbridge University. Another nominee, despite a conviction for Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH) and a nine month prison sentence, now has a part time job, has taken steps to address her alcohol and substance misuse issues and is looking to find a college placement which combines GCSEs with a book keeping course.

The winner of this year’s Antigone Award is eighteen year old Saffron. After completing a 2 year custodial sentence at a secure training centre Saffron was determined to make a new start. She found herself independent accommodation and a place on a college course studying business and administration. Saffron then came, of her own initiative, to ask for work experience at Just for Kids Law. During her placement she was an asset to the JfK Law team, not only taking on important tasks for the staff but also training groups of up to thirty lawyers at a time around the country.
Saffron was taken out for dinner on August 4th by Martha Lane Fox and the two JfK Law directors, Aika and Shauneen, and presented with her prize of £250.
We are so proud of the achievements of all the nominees and wish them the best for the future.

http://www.marthalanefox.com/