Matt Carnelley

Matt is a local hero in every sense of the word. He has overcome a number of difficulties to excel, achieve and help his local community. Matt has been coaching sport and in particular football to hundreds of children in the past few years. He has gone out of his way to help as many kids as he can in both the Darlington and Leeds areas. All Matt's work is all voluntary and he has not been paid a penny for his tireless efforts and dedication. He has had very little free time as he also completed his A levels and is about to start the 2nd year of his degree at university. He has done all of this despite the fact that he had meningitis as a baby and has Hydrocephalus as a result. Numerous operations when he was younger could have dented Matt's ability and attitude, but it has not held him back in the slightest. Matt's efforts have seen him win many awards including Volunteer of the year, Student of the year and Best Student in Darlington but although these awards give a sense of pride and achievement, in the end, they are just certificates. Carrying the torch would be a perfect reward for sports mad Matt!