Annual Jack Petchey Awards Evening for the 2023 Winners

On the evening of Tuesday 5th March, winners of Jack Petchey awards from across Harrow schools and clubs, descended on the Watersmeet Theatre in Rickmansworth for their very special, glitzy awards evening.

Our attending 2023 winners, gathered together with the Mayor of Harrow, Councillor Ramji Chauhan and Harrow's Director of Education, Mr Paddy O'Dwyer.

Each winner enjoyed their own personal moment of fame as they individually received their award on stage, accompanied by the bright lights and pulsing music such an event deserves. It was very special and memorable evening for the recipients and their friends and family who had come along to cheer and applaud their amazing achievement.

Our student Achievement winners in 2023 were Aditya M from our Year 7, Jossy O W from our Year 8, Esmatullah S from Year 9, Shaalini S and Krupali M from Year 10, Sarah C, Vianna G & Ahmed S from Year 11 and Aleena S from Year 13. The winner of the 2023 Leadership Award was our wonderful school Site Manager, Mr Jordan Patterson.

The evening also saw several amazing dance performances by members of our Canons Dance Crew.

They were Vea P, Aashtha V, Samarthi P, Priyal K, Janavi T, Alessia A, Jossi O-W & Jessica T, representing our 8, 9 & 10 Year Groups. We, their parents and friends and of course their dance teacher Zara are all extremely proud of them

Huge congratulations again to all our amazing winners and our fabulous dancers.

Who is

Jack Petchey?

Sir Jack is an incredible inspiration to everyone who works at the Foundation. Even at 98* he takes an active interest in the running of the charity, as do the rest of his family who share his vision.

He was born into a working class family in the poorer East End of London in 1925, left school at 13 and then joined the Navy in 1943 as World War II raged. After leaving the Navy, he began working as a clerk for a solicitor’s firm. He applied for management training but was told he would never make a businessman.

Instead of giving up, Sir Jack used the £39 he was given from the Navy to buy a second hand car and started a small taxi business. Through hard work and innovative thinking, he proved them wrong and built a multi-million-pound empire.

Sir Jack’s experiences led to his passion to increase young peoples’ aspirations by rewarding their achievements.

In 2016, Sir Jack received his knighthood from Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his many years of charitable work.

*as at March 2024

“Some people say I’ve been lucky, but a lot of success is about having courage to make decisions and take advantage of opportunities."