Celebrating our interns, recognising our community champions and thanking everyone who helps Lily’s grow

On 15 September, the Lily’s community came together for our fourth annual graduation and celebration event.

With the theme “Reflecting Back, Looking Forward,” the evening gave us an opportunity to recognise how far our interns have come, celebrate the people who have supported them and look ahead to their next steps.

This year’s event felt particularly meaningful. Twelve months earlier, Lily’s was facing a period of real uncertainty. Being together again reminded us that Lily’s has never been built by one person or one team—it has grown through a whole community of people who have believed in our work, bought from us, funded us, partnered with us and encouraged us to keep going.

Celebrating our interns

The evening was, first and foremost, about celebrating the achievements of our interns.

Each certificate represented much more than the completion of a programme. It recognised new skills, increased responsibility, teamwork, perseverance and the individual contribution each intern made during their time at Lily’s.

For those moving on, the evening was also about looking forward. Their time at Lily’s is part of their story, not the end of it. We hope every intern leaves knowing that they have valuable skills, strengths and something meaningful to contribute to workplaces and their communities.

Trainees, interns and staff were joined by their families and supporters, alongside Lily’s trustees, funders, corporate partners, catering customers and many of the people who champion our work throughout the year.

Bringing everyone together was a wonderful reminder that Lily’s has always been built through community, collaboration and friendship.

A very special presentation

We were thrilled to welcome the Lord Mayor and Mayoress of Canterbury, who joined our celebration and presented certificates to our interns.

Their presence made the occasion even more memorable, and we are grateful that they took the time to learn more about Lily’s, hear about our interns’ achievements and celebrate alongside them.

Thank you to our staff

Our staff create the real, supportive working environments in which interns and trainees can learn.

They balance running busy cafés, kitchens, catering services and programmes while making sure each person is recognised and supported as an individual. That takes skill, patience, creativity, humour and a great deal of care.

Thank you to our whole team for everything you give to Lily’s and to the people we work alongside.

Introducing our Community Champion Awards

This year also saw the launch of our new Community Champion Awards, created to recognise people who have supported Lily’s above and beyond.

Our first awards were presented to Scarlett, Ryan and Nathalie.

Scarlett has brought people together through our dog-walking networking events, introduced new people to our café and continually looked for ways to support Lily’s.

Ryan helped us launch the dog-walking events and generously gave up his own time to transform our staff room with a fresh coat of paint.

Nathalie is always looking for new ways to help us raise funds and provided wonderful support during our Tropic fundraising event.

Their support has taken many different forms, but every contribution has helped strengthen Lily’s and the community around us.

Thank you, Scarlett, Ryan and Nathalie, for giving your time, skills, energy and friendship so generously.

Built through partnership

The evening brought together representatives from organisations that fund us, work alongside us, use our catering services and provide real workplace opportunities for our interns and trainees.

These relationships make so much of our work possible. Over time, many of our partnerships have become friendships, built on shared values, mutual respect, honesty and kindness.

Thank you to our trustees, families, funders, corporate partners, customers, community organisations, schools, colleges and friends for continuing to stand beside Lily’s.

An incredible performance from Ashford Concert Band

The evening was made even more special by Ashford Concert Band, who wowed everyone with an incredible live set.

The band has supported Lily’s throughout the year and raised more than £1,400 for our work. Their performances have brought people together while helping us continue creating meaningful learning and workplace opportunities for our interns and trainees.

We are enormously grateful to every member of the band for sharing their time and talent so generously. Thank you for filling our celebration with fantastic music and for being such valued friends and supporters of Lily’s.

Looking forward together

When we reflect on the past year, we see resilience. We see people stepping forward to help, a team supporting one another and interns discovering more about what they can do.

We see partnerships becoming friendships and ideas becoming opportunities.

When we look forward, we see more people developing skills, experience and a genuine sense of belonging. We see new projects, new collaborations and more opportunities to support people who too often fall through the gaps.

We cannot pretend that the journey ahead will always be easy—but we know that we will not be walking it alone.

A special thank you goes to Malcolm Hackett for once again capturing the evening so brilliantly through his photography.

And because it would not be a proper Lily’s gathering without every member of the community being represented, even the dog attended!

Most importantly, congratulations to every intern whose achievements we celebrated. The evening belonged to you, and we are incredibly proud of everything you have achieved.