In front of a packed Middlesbrough Town Hall on Tuesday evening, BBC Radio 4 producer Stephanie McGovern presented more than 200 prizes to students at the Macmillan Academy Annual Awards Evening.
In front of a packed Middlesbrough Town Hall on Tuesday evening, BBC Radio 4 producer Stephanie McGovern presented more than 200 prizes to students at the Macmillan Academy Annual Awards Evening.
Stephanie, who was a student at the Academy from 1993 to 2000, directed her address principally to the many students present, with whom she quickly established an easy rapport. The thrust of her message was that throughout life they should aim high, never give up and find ways to overcome all obstacles to their progress. She said that she was where she was today thanks to her education at Macmillan which had given her the perfect springboard from which to move seamlessly into the 'outside world'. Using highly-relevant anecdotes to illustrate her message, Stephanie talked about how she frequently had to persuade famous people to appear on the early morning programme, using the charm of her Middlesbrough accent to get them to do so.
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |
Earlier in the proceedings, the Macmillan musicians entertained members of the audience as they were taking their seats, a cheque was presented to the charity Cystic Fibrosis, just one of those helped by the Academy during the year, and Mr Fraser, the Principal, reflected on the successes and achievements of the past academic year and the responsibility that he feels for adequately preparing young people for the future.