MAHDLO Youth Zone is the only charity in Oldham to receive royal recognition following the Platinum Jubilee of the late Queen Elizabeth ll.
Mahdlo has been given one of the 350 trees that made up The Queen’s Tree of Trees sculpture outside Buckingham Palace as part of the jubilee celebrations in June.
The tree was planted outside Mahdlo’s base on Egerton Street in the town centre on Wednesday, November 2 in a civic ceremony with special guests including Deputy Lieutenants of Greater Manchester, the Mayor of Oldham Cllr Elaine Garry, Mahdlo patrons, officials and members, and local councillors.
Mahdlo’s Chief Executive, Lucy Lees, said: “This is something everyone in Oldham should be really proud of.
“The Queen, before she passed away, has chosen a charity in Oldham because of the value we bring to the community, and all the hard work that goes into it by the professionals and volunteers who work here.
“Thank you to each and every one of our supporters for the role they have in ensuring the young people of Oldham have the opportunity to be the best they can be.”
All 350 trees have been awarded to charities across the UK, with Mahdlo one of 12 recipients in Greater Manchester, and the only one in Oldham.
Lucy has described how the honour dropped out of the blue: “A letter arrived from the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater Manchester saying she had nominated 12 charities from across Greater Manchester – and all 12 had been chosen, including us.
“When we received the letter, the Queen was still alive. But a couple of weeks later when she passed away, it made the honour really poignant because the Tree of Trees was part of her jubilee celebrations, and part of her legacy.”
The 21-metre-high sculpture was designed to draw attention to the Queen’s Green Canopy tree-planting campaign, which has seen over a million trees planted in the UK to mark the 70 years of her reign.
Representatives of all 12 Greater Manchester charities collected their trees from Bolton Wanderers Football Club, when Lucy was joined by Mahdlo chair Chris Wareing, vice chair Janelle Barker and other civic dignitaries to collect a rowan tree.
Mahdlo first opened in 2012 and is dedicated to young people from all over Oldham aged 8 to 19 years, and up to 25 for those with a disability.
Its mission is to provide opportunities for young people to be the very best they can be. It employs 74 full and part-time staff and is supported by 69 volunteers.
Lucy added: “As well as the extensive activities we host, we have pop up sessions all over the borough.
“With all the different venues, we want more young people to take advantage of what we have to offer, and we want more people to start supporting our charity.
“We’ve got different opportunities for different people from all over Oldham. If you don’t do your Duke of Edinburgh award at school you can do it through us, we have the cheapest gym in Oldham, for 50p we have facilities that compare to most adult gyms.
“You can play football and basketball, take part in multisports and we support young carers and families – we have so much to offer.”
- Rugby league legend Kevin Sinfield OBE shared his inspirational story at an evening that raised £4,700 for Mahdlo Youth Zone.
Interviewed by BBC reporter Kevin Fitzpatrick, Saddleworth-based Kevin spoke passionately about his career, teamwork, longstanding friendships and fundraising challenges to raise awareness and funds for MND charities.
His next challenge will see him take on seven ultra-marathons in seven days, starting on November 13 in Edinburgh and stopping at iconic locations close to his heart before finishing a week later during half time at the Rugby League World Cup at Old Trafford.
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