AN ELLESMERE PORT charity which helps children in the town, Chester, Northwich and Winsford is celebrating after bagging an awards double.

Passion for Learning picked up two awards from the recent Steve Morgan Foundation Awards programme, one of which was a complete surprise.

Nominated and shortlisted for the category of Changing Young Lives, Passion for Learning was happy to receive the runner-up prize in this category.

At the same awards ceremony Diane Clark, founder of local charity Passion for Learning, was presented with the Outstanding Individual award, presented by Steve Morgan CBE himself.

Diane said: "To be presented with this award is truly one of the highlights of my life and definitely the highlight of my career to date.

"Never in a million years did I expect to receive this recognition and I am so grateful to the Steve Morgan Foundation for their support to me and Passion for Learning over the years.

"Since I founded our charity in 2011, we have worked with thousands of children in our local communities. Together with our wonderful volunteers, we have helped to make a positive difference to their learning and to their wellbeing, whatever the challenges they face in their home lives."

Viv Couche, development manager and trustee for Passion for Learning, added: "We are all so very proud of Diane and think this award accurately reflects her lifelong commitment to working for the benefit of children and young people.

"Receiving the runner-up prize for the Changing Young Lives category was equally exciting for us as an organisation and we are so grateful for all the supporters who voted for us in this category."

Passion for Learning is a volunteer organisation which recruits, trains and places community volunteers to work with children in primary schools across Cheshire West and Chester.

The volunteers support children one-to-one or through a network of after school Enrichment Clubs, which are provided free of charge to the children attending.

The charity’s work is designed to help children discover a love for learning, igniting a spark through the child’s individual interests, in a way which feels to the child like pure play.

In the summer holidays, Passion for Learning partnered with Port Grocery in Ellesmere Port, to deliver the ‘All About the Kids’ scheme, every weekday of the school summer holidays.

This unique partnership brought together the Port Grocery’s team’s expertise around tackling holiday hunger and Passion for Learning’s skills in working with children to enrich and enliven their summer break.

Rita Lewis, director of Port Grocery said: "It’s been a magical experience. The children went out skipping from the sessions and wanted to come back as much as they were allowed."

The scheme reached 85 children and their families from Ellesmere Port, offering a free meal each afternoon as part of the session. Both organisations were delighted with the take up of the scheme, which was part funded by Edsential, using funding made available by central government.

As part of the programme of sessions, Passion for Learning organised a trip to Thurstaston beach and Wirral Country Park, which the children loved.

With Storyhouse’s support, Passion for Learning also organised a trip to the Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre in Chester, taking children from Ellesmere Port and Chester to watch a production of The Borrowers.

Both the beach and theatre trips were unique for all the children participating and it was clear how much they enjoyed themselves.

Rachael Driver, enrichment clubs manager for Passion for Learning said: "The All About the Kids scheme was an intense but very rewarding experience for everyone involved.

"As a staff and volunteer team, we delivered a range of different activities from beekeeping to cookery, virtual reality to face painting and much more besides.

"We were delighted to see how much the children were getting out of the sessions, which we had designed to enrich their knowledge and understanding of the wider world."

Diane Clark added: "This has been an incredibly busy summer for us but to start the term with the awards from the Steve Morgan Foundation has propelled us into the new term refreshed and enthused to carry on making a difference to as many young people as we possibly can."

For more information about Passion for Learning, visit www.passion-for-learning.com or call 0151 356 8717 or email diane.clark@passion-for-learning.com.