Do you know a special young person in the community?
Is there someone who has made an outstanding contribution to Blackpool over the last year? The nomination period has been extended to Friday the 24th February 2012 in the quest to find Blackpool’s young people of the year in the 2012 Youth Awards.
This is the first year that a set of awards specifically for young people is taking place in Blackpool, with people up to the age of 24 eligible to be nominated.
The awards, which have been planned and organised by Blackpool Young People’s Council, are separated into nine different categories for the ceremony, which will take place on 20 April 2012 at the Hilton hotel in Blackpool.
Cllr Amy Cross, Cabinet Member for Younger People said: “Blackpool has many inspirational young people that do amazing things for their community but are not acknowledged enough.
“These are the first youth awards to be held in Blackpool and will not only help to celebrate the hard working young people that we have in the town but will also help to show the rest of the community just how passionate our young people are.
“The awards are a positive way to recognise these young people and I encourage people to get involved and nominate anybody that is deserving of an award.”
The categories that people can be nominated for include:
- Citizen of the Year; The Young Citizen of the Year award recognises a young person who takes their civic duty very seriously and has gone above and beyond in performing it.
- Volunteer of the Year; This award is for a young person who has given their spare time to help a great cause Youth Culture Award;
- The Youth Culture Award is to celebrate the culture of young people whether that is music, art or technology.
- Respect Award; The respect award is about celebrating a young person who has helped to tackle bullying or promote diversity in their community.
- Early Achievement Award; This award is to honour a younger person (5-11) who has already achieved a huge amount.
- Personal Journey; This award is for a young person who despite many challenges in their life has still achieved a huge amount.
- Bravery Award; This bravery award is to recognise a young person who has shown bravery and courage when faced with challenging circumstances.
- Youth Project of the year; This award is for a group of young people who have made an outstanding contribution to Blackpool
- Young Person of the Year; The Young Person of the Year award is to recognise a young person who has made an outstanding contribution to Blackpool.
Nicole Burke, Chair of Blackpool Young People’s Council, added: “BYPC are very excited to host these awards to celebrate the real achievements of young people across the town and provide the chance to tell the positive stories of inspirational young people who are every day super heroes.
“There is a tendency for national media to portray young people in a bad way. We at BYPC want to ditch this idea of young people being trouble makers and doing nothing productive with their time, and show society all the hard work and passion that we put into our lives, our communities and the work we do to make positive change for the better.
“So I encourage everyone to get involved, young people, parents, businesses, teachers and youth workers alike to be part of this amazing event celebrating the future generation of the town.”
All young people between the ages of 11-24 are eligible for each of the award categories with the exception of the “Early Achievement Award” which is for children aged between 5-11 years old.
To be selected as a winner, the young person must either live, work or study within the Blackpool boundary.
To nominate an incredible young person, you can email rubothered@blackpool.gov.uk, submit an application online at www.rubothered.co.uk/youthawards or pick up a nomination form from your local school, library or youth club.
Nominations will remain open until 24 February and the awards will be presented at the celebration evening on 20 April.