A grandmother who set up a performing arts group for her granddaughters and other children to learn how to sing and dance has won the £3,000 Community Builder Award from Leicestershire First.
Ruth Wragg’s idea has blossomed into a major force for good in Braunstone, Leicester, growing from a handful of children taking part to more than 100 members now, aged from five to 18. Ruth did not let her own battle against cancer stop her supporting and nurturing the group; and she is donating her £3,000 Leicestershire First prize to the charity Coping with Cancer in Leicestershire and Rutland.
Ruth, 59, of Gooding Close in Braunstone, was so frustrated by a lack of activities for her granddaughters to take part in that she set up K.TEY (Kids To Entertain You) to give local youngsters something positive to do after school. It has been a massive success, with more than 450 children taking part across the eight years it has existed to date. They have performed many times locally and on a West End stage in London.
Ruth said: “We work with young people that would not be able to afford to go to stage schools or other high priced dance and drama groups. They would never get the chance to practice and develop their talents.”
The group has outgrown its base twice, and is now at a building on Hinckley Road in the city. While most of the children still come from Braunstone, youngsters now have joined the group from other parts of Leicestershire including Anstey and Wigston. Activities at K.TEY run each weekday after school and on Saturdays. All dance genres are included, as are fitness, drama, vocal techniques, acrobatics, DJing and the essential non-performing skills such as sound and lighting, costume and prop making and team building skills.
Ruth said: “Seeing the kids on stage performing is what it’s all about; it makes worthwhile all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes. There have been heartaches and great joy along the way.”
Many of the children involved in K.TEY are teenage women and the project also provides them with support on subjects such as drugs awareness, pregnancy issues, alcohol abuse, crime prevention and health, well-being and fitness.
The Award comes with a £3,000 prize to donate to a Leicestershire charity; Ruth has chosen Coping with Cancer in Leicestershire and Rutland. Ruth was diagnosed with cancer in 2007, but has made a full recovery. She missed only one week of volunteering at the group, and said: “This group got me through; I didn’t truly realise what this place meant to me before.”
Jane Hagreen, Coping with Cancer Leicestershire and Rutland fundraiser, said the money will go to providing people with cancer and their carers with relaxing therapies such as reflexology and massage: “Ruth’s gift has come completely out of the blue and is really welcome. We are extremely grateful to Ruth and to Leicestershire First.”
Coping with Cancer is based at Fosse Road South in Leicester, close to the K.TEY centre. On average more than 35 people are referred to Coping with Cancer in Leicestershire and Rutland each month. “Some are supported for a few weeks,” said Jane Hagreen, “some are helped for years.”
Ruth was presented with her Leicestershire First award by Vivien Thompson. Leicestershire First is a charity launched in June at County Hall by Maurice and Vivien Thompson, a couple from Leicestershire who want to encourage and celebrate giving and good citizenship. Each year nine awards will be given to reward and promote the values of leadership, excellence and citizenship in the county. For each prize the money must be donated to Leicestershire charities. Anyone can visit www.leicestershirefirst.org.uk to make a nomination.
Vivien Thompson, of Lubenham, said: “What Ruth has achieved is absolutely wonderful and deeply impressive. It’s an example which other people elsewhere in Leicester, Leicestershire and beyond can look at and be inspired to follow. Anywhere where people think there is nothing for children to do; here is an example to be moved to action by.”
Wayne Naylor, the Leicester City Council member for Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields, who is also a volunteer at K.TEY, said: “I nominated Ruth for the courage and bravery she showed and because what she has done has been outstanding. What she has achieved is very special, and she is a very special lady.”
Nominations for three more Leicestershire First Awards – for Volunteering, Leadership and Achievement in Sport – can be made now. For details of how to nominate, call Leicestershire First on 0116 249 5330 or visit the website www.leicestershirefirst.org.uk
Highly commended in the Community Builder Award were Rhonda Dean and Cheika Kennedy. Rhonda Dean, who was nominated for helping save a community coffee shop in her home village of Whitwick, said: “I’m part of a team of three – along with Andrew Hogsden and Peter Christian – who together saved the coffee shop which is a cornerstone of our community. So this commendation is really for the team.”
Cheika Kennedy led the redevelopment of a playing field in her village of Hoton, which has given a community bisected by a busy trunk road a new focus. Cheika, who raised £72,000 for the project, said: “It’s turned a derelict space into a popular hub for the village, with lots of people using it.”
If you have any questions about Leicestershire First and the awards please call Andy Gilgrist on 01536 772256 or 07989 562517 or email: info@leicestershirefirst.org.uk