Tiny Toones in top three for UNICEF Sport for Education award

July 27th, 2012 | By dave

The 2012 Beyond Sport summit in London concluded with a star-studded award ceremony on 25 July. Tiny Toones was on the shortlist for the UNICEF Sport for Education award and KK (Tiny Toones founder), Hannah Stevens (board member) and Richard England (supporter) were in attendance as luminaries including Tony Blair, David Beckham and Muhammed Ali presented awards to those who have used sport to change lives the world over.

We were disappointed not to win but honoured to have been one of only three projects shortlisted and our congratulations go to the worthy winners Sports for Education, Education for the Future from Romania. Our thanks go to Beyond Sport for the opportunity to attend the summit and meet and share ideas with so many inspiring organisations and individuals. We are also grateful to ASE consulting for assisting with the costs involved in visiting London in the midst of Olympic fever.

By far and away our biggest thanks go to everyone who took the time to post supportive comments on the Beyond Sport website. We were touched by the love for Tiny Toones that is out there; it really is an inspiration. We’ll be back and aiming for gold at the 2013 awards!

Diamond’s story

July 16th, 2012 | By dave

“Tiny Toones saved my life. I was so lonely on the street. When kids get sick, they have their parents to take care of them. When I was sick, I had no-one.”

Following the death of her father and a breakdown in relationship with her mother Diamond went to live on the street. She had to support herself which led her to selling noodles, selling chicken and even security jobs.

Then she found Tiny Toones. She had been dancing since she was little and could hardly believe there was someone teaching street kids how to break-dance. Her ability and hard work led her to become the first female peer teacher at Tiny Toones.

She now runs the break-dancing class for girls, the introduction of which has resulted in more girls than ever before taking part in Tiny Toones’ Creative Program.

“I teach these kids how to dance. But I also teach them to be strong. Even though their lives are hard, I tell them they can each find their own way. For my future? When I was a kid, my dream was to teach dance. This is my future. Because of Tiny Toones I am living my dream.”

Beaver’s story

July 16th, 2012 | By dave

“Before I came to Tiny Toones I was always rebelling against my family and my school and was getting into trouble. I even dropped out of school at the beginning of grade 12.”

Beaver admits that before he became part of Tiny Toones he used to associate with a bad crowd and get into trouble. Beaver was first drawn to Tiny Toones by his love of rap music. He initially studied in the DJ class before progressing to writing lyrics and rapping.                                                                                                                                                                                   .         “It gave me a focus and a different outlet. In Cambodia we are taught to suppress our feelings and never talk about things, we keep it all inside until we feel like we are going crazy. That’s what happened to me before I learnt to use lyric writing and rapping as a way of expressing myself.”

Inspired by the hip-hop he loves, Beaver has been learning English and even incorporated English into his rapping on occasion. He is now studying a first year University course in English with a scholarship from Tiny Toones. He has already come top of his class on a number of occasions.

“I want to be a positive role model for other children and show how music can empower people  to strive for a better future.”