NABGC – 100 YEAR CENTENARY CONFERENCE & AWARDS EVENING

On Sunday 28th September 2025, around 150 people gathered to celebrate 100-years of a National Association of Boys & Girls Clubs – a century since the founding of the original National Association of Boys Clubs.

Thanks to the support of our key sponsors World Youth Clubs and Banks Group, our conference and awards evening took place at the Ramside Hall Hotel and was hosted by Durham Boys & Girls Clubs. It was another blockbuster event bringing together our UK-wide network and friends from across the globe and featured informative and inspirational keynote speakers and relevant and educational workshops.

The Awards Evening was hosted by northeast England’s television presenters Pam Royle and Ian Payne, and we were pleased to present our usual awards along with numerous certificates for outstanding service.

The NABGC Alumni Hall of Fame was launched and our first five inductees featured rugby, boxing, cricket and footballing legends.

There were well-wishing messages from the Mama Mia cast, WWE superstar Montez Ford, Olympic Triathlete Kate Waugh, and also Olympian Steve Cram and Brenda Blethyn from the hit TV show Vera.

Our special guest was Dr Mona Dixon, Global Ambassador for World Youth Clubs (WYC) who was interviewed by WYC founder and CEO Susan Porcaro Goings. Mona shared her story from being homeless to now being a motivational speaker, entrepreneur and a youth advisor for President Barack Obama’s government. She tells us that her Boys & Girls Club played a key role in helping her achieve all that she has, providing a safe place, educational and emotional support and opportunities that she may never have had otherwise.

On top of this, we received a message from His Majesty King Charles, expressing thanks, appreciation and support for our collective 100-years of service to young people.

Following the event, one delegate said, “Thanks for such a great event. We’ve had a great time and it has made us realise we are not alone. There are many others working hard trying to do what we do. It’s good to know that we are part of something bigger and we need to do this more.”

It was a truly wonderful event.

Thanks to everyone who made the time to come along.