Karen Harper, Centre Manager and Director of the Rhys Jones Community Centre, has recently won the Community Change Award at the Merseyside Women of the Year Awards.
Karen has been a presence at the centre since it first began. Initially as a volunteer, she then took over management along with Sharon Jardine once it re-launched in 2017, after the previous charity could no longer continue to run the centre. The centre has since become an important asset to Croxteth, providing a much-needed place for young people to meet up, as well as hosting a range of different community activities.
Karen was nominated for the award earlier this year, and then selected as a finalist. On Friday 28th June, the awards took place at the Crowne Plaza, with a host of inspirational women winning awards for the amazing work that they do. Karen won the Community Change Award, sponsored by Neo Community and ADDvanced Solutions.
In her acceptance speech, Karen said:
‘I just want to say this is for the Jones family obviously. Thank you to my other two female friends and directors, Sharon and Jan.
‘We are unfunded and not supported by our council, so every penny we get is off people like you, so thank you very much.’
Congratulations to Karen for winning this prestigious award, and for the brilliant work she and the team do at the Rhys Jones Centre.