ANN IS ANCHOR OF COMMUNITY
AS the dedicated driving force and kind heart behind Young People’s Futures, Ann Lawrance received more nominations than anyone else when we asked you to celebrate the city’s key worker heroes.
With typical modesty, the Possilpark project worker refuses to accept she is anything other than ‘part of the team’.
Her friends, neighbours, colleagues and the thousands of people she has helped over the years, disagree.
“Ann is well known and respected for her overwhelming belief in the people of this community,” says local resident Janette McCormick.
“She has worked tirelessly for young people, families and older people in Possilpark – she is an amazing asset to our area.”
Kerry McDonald, whose daughter attended several YPF clubs, adds: “Ann is the bread and butter of our community. Nothing is too difficult for her, she has always been there for my family, for which I am eternally grateful. During lockdown, she has kept us all going – she is the best.”
Deborah Mahon says Ann has always gone the extra mile for the young people of Possilpark.
“Now it is the whole community who needs help and Ann has stepped up,” she says. “She has obtained funding, put logistics in place, worked with partners, organised her team – she has an unparalleled knowledge of our community and she has made sure no one is missed out. She’ll tell you she isn’t doing anything special. We beg to differ.”
In 2002, living in Possilpark with her young son Jonathan, Ann and a group of fellow residents were becoming increasingly concerned about the lack of facilities for young people in the area.
“At the time, services for the under-12s were not considered a priority,” she recalls.
“We believed the opposite. We held a consultation with 200 kids, and what was really obvious was that young people were screaming out for support, a safe place to be. So Young Possil Futures was born.”
Over the next few years, Ann volunteered with the group and became part of the management committee.
In 2006, manager.
“I was told – you’ve got £3000 in the bank, three services running a week and six months to turn it around or it will close,” she says.
“It was quite a challenge. But I threw my ideas and passion and commitment to my community into it and did everything in my power she became project to make sure it did not close down.”
Fast forward 14 years later, via a name change – to Young People’s Futures, in recognition of its wider reach – and the project, which has just three full-time staff and 11 sessional workers, is delivering more than 13 different activities, five days a week, to children, teenagers and adults.
Those activities were brought to an abrupt halt by the coronavirus outbreak, but Ann and the team were determined to find other ways to support their community, delivering food parcels to people in need.
“I’m just amazed and so grateful to the whole team, and to the volunteers who have come forward – the whole community has been fantastic,” says Ann.
“Why do I do this? Because people believed in me when I first took on this role and I believe in the strength and goodness of people in this community.
“It’s about teasing that out and supporting each other, regardless of status or qualifications or nationality or age.”
She adds: “Caring about each other is the most important thing.”