I attended the Autumn/Spring graduation event at Macmillan Academy with Joe’s Dad and his Grandparents. The whole evening was thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish, and very well organised. As a parent, I experienced a whole host of emotions watching my son participate in presenting the evening with his friends and hearing about the work that they had been doing in the preceding 4 weeks. The overwhelming feeling was pride, not just in my son for standing up there speaking with confidence and assurance, but pride in all of the young people who graduated on the evening and the amazing work they had achieved. We certainly have a talented bunch of kids in the north east! I was astounded by the quality of the presentations; the films that they produced were outstanding and they all had a powerful impact. I am sure they will be effective in helping to raise the profiles of such fabulous community projects. It was fabulous to hear the enthusiasm of the volunteers and the commitment to keep this worthwhile service going; to know that there are other opportunities to keep involved with community projects both at home and further afield, and that not all teenagers are thoughtless and selfish as many would have us believe.