A father who works to provide young men in the capital with positive male role models is among the Londoners nominated for a national award to celebrate mentoring.
Courtney Brown, 48, has been shortlisted in the inaugural National Mentoring Awards for his Enfield and Hackney-based charity Father 2 Father.
The organisation, which has Stephen Lawrence’s father Dr Neville Lawrence as patron, mentors teenagers, fathers and other adults to ensure youngsters have supportive male figures in their lives.
Mr Brown, who has four children, said: “My father wasn’t there for me the way I wanted him to be and that affected me into my adulthood and the way I was with my own children ... now I just want to show young people things can change.”
Goal 17, based in Great Portland Street, has also been nominated. It sees mentors sponsor young homeless people through a 10-week football academy. The programme is supported by clubs including West Ham.
Chelsey Baker, an author and award-winning mentor, founded the event to thank mentors and initiatives that “change the lives of so many”.
The awards cover categories such as charities, education and disability and will be hosted by Rory Bremner tonight at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower hotel.
