Proud pupils from Years 7 to 12 were presented with the Jack Petchey Achievement Award at the Annual Young Achievers Ceremony, in the company of Councillor Sachin Gupta, at the Waterman’s Centre.  The scheme is a reward and recognition initiative which enables schools and youth organisations to celebrate the achievements of their young people, to help  young people raise their aspirations, believe in themselves and make a contribution to their society.  Gunnersbury’s 13 award winners certainly made a significant contribution, considering the amazing variety of activities that they had involved themselves in : volunteering as lighting engineer for an amateur theatre production, walking 100 miles through the Dutch provinces over four days for charity,  helping to set up after school scuba diving sessions and Warhammer Club for fellow pupils, mentoring pupils who are new to the school, for example. Each award winner received £200 to contribute towards an aspect of school life to enhance provision for all members of the school community.  Examples of how the boys have used their monies include the purchase of new atlases for the Geography department, the purchase of bibles and artefacts for the school chaplaincy, refurbishing the basketball nets in the lower school playground  and contributions towards covering the costs for pupils to participate in a range of extra-curricular activities.  Along with pupils from six other local schools, our boys were treated to an evening of recognition, entertainment and encouraging words from philanthropist Jack Petchey himself, via a satellite link. Congratulations to all those who received the 2014 Jack Petchey Awards and we hope the boys continue to show the enthusiasm and dedication to their education and that of their fellow pupils in the years ahead :