Georgina (George) Grant-Mills, a Youth Work Manager from the Trust for Developing Communities (TDC), has been honoured with the inaugural ‘Bill Cox Award’ for Detached Youth Worker of the Year.
The prestigious national award was announced at the Federation of Detached Youth Workers conference in Leeds, recognising George’s exceptional leadership and her profound impact on young people’s lives on the streets of Brighton & Hove.
George, who has been a youth worker with TDC for over seven years manages the Brighton Streets Partnership. She coordinates with two other local charities to provide citywide detached youth work, meeting young people in their own environments to build trust and offer support. George also collaborates closely with Sussex Police, the Brighton Business Crime Reduction Partnership, Social Workers and shop security to try to wrap support around young people and divert them away from harm or involvement in crime.
We are all incredibly proud of George. She brings so much heart to everything she does, constantly working towards making Brighton safer for young people and shrinking the holes in the safety net underneath them.
Adam Muirhead, Director of Youth Work at the Trust for Developing Communities
George said about receiving this award
I feel really honoured to receive this award, especially in remembrance of Bill Cox. Detached youth work doesn’t always get the recognition it deserves, but it has such a big impact on our communities. The trust young people place in us means we can support them to grow and thrive without judgment, which is something I never take for granted. It’s a real privilege to give young people space to feel valued and part of their community and to remind everyone that safeguarding is a shared responsibility.
I’m accepting this award on behalf of the Brighton Streets youth team, whose hard work makes all of this possible. I hope it shines a light on the vital contribution of detached youth workers across the globe.
Watch a short film about the project George manages below
