One of this year's Youth Buzz Award winners
The winners have been announced of this year's prestigious Youth Buzz Awards that see young people in Manchester recognised for their stand-out achievements that help make a positive difference to them, their communities, or their peers.
The awards recognise young people up to the age of 19 and are organised by Manchester Youth Council, supported by the city council's Youth, Play and Participation Service, and are sponsored by a number of local businesses and organisations.
This year's awards saw more than 130 nominations made across eleven different categories with three nominees making it through to the final round of judging in each award category and winners decided by a judging panel made up entirely of young people from Manchester Youth Council, led by Manchester's three MYPs - members of the UK Youth Parliament.
The names of the winners were revealed at a glittering city centre awards ceremony attended by the Lord Mayor of Manchester Councillor Yasmine Dar and over 150 young people, including finalists and their guests. The awards were hosted by Toni Banjo, a member of Manchester Youth Council and Councillor Garry Bridges, Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People and also featured live performances by young Manchester musicians who showed off their talents playing the harp, clarinet, saxophone and guitar.
Winners included Caprice Dibble who won the award for Outstanding Achievement by a Young Person in recognition of her amazing creative and digital talents which have seen her assist with the complete redesign of a young-person-friendly Local Offer website for young people who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and the redesign of the Local Offer logo. She also produced a survey to understand the various ways young people engage with social media in order to target young people who have SEND and to increase awareness of opportunities through the Local Offer.
Winner of the Making a Difference Award which recognises a young person who has helped achieve positive and lasting change for young people in the areas of safety, health, equality, identity or belonging was David Hamlett. After first going along himself to Manchester Water Sports Club to learn how to sail, he rapidly progressed achieving both lifeguard and powerboat qualifications, before then becoming a sailing instructor and gaining employment with the club, where he now works with other young people, passing on the skills he has learned to them.
Burnage Academy for Boys' student Ahmad Nazar took away the Climate Action Award after spearheading the climate club at his school and demonstrating an unwavering passion for tackling environmental challenges. Notable projects he has led on include organising litter picks within the local community and crafting bird feeders, as well as various different recycling activities.
The Young Leader Award for a young person who demonstrates exceptional leadership skills went to Isla Carney, a longstanding youth member of Manchester Settlement who is described as a 'leader of leaders' in her role as a Youth Panel member.
The Piper Hill Travel Pass Campaign Committee came out top in the Most Effective Youth Voice or Campaign award category. The committee - made up of young people who each have special education needs and disabilities - have campaigned tirelessly to ensure that the carers of people with disabilities could travel free instead of having to pay the full transport fare. Their Fare Deal for Carers campaign saw them lobby and gain the support of local councillors and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and it's hoped the campaign's objectives will be implemented in the coming months across Greater Manchester.
Winners of the Community Champion Award were Rushford Park Central Youth Changers. They have helped create positive change in their local community through managing and allocating 'Youth Bank' funding for community projects in mosques and community hubs for activities such as sports coaching sessions and healthy living events, regularly giving up their Friday nights to help change the lives of others in their community.
The full list of Youth Buzz Award winners is below:
Making a Difference - Winner David Hamlet
Outstanding Achievement by a Young Person, sponsored by Rosgal Ltd - Winner Caprice Dibble
Skills for Life - Winner Nathan Yakuba
Community Champion - Winners Rushford Park Central Youth Changers
Most Effective Youth Voice or Campaign - Winner Piper Hill Travel Pass Campaign Committee
Youth Project of the Year - Winner Wythenshawe Community Housing Group
Climate Action - Winner Ahmad Nazar
Children's Rights Champion - Winner The Proud Trust's Youth Summit
Play Project of the Year - Winner Manchester Young Lives
Young Leader of the Year - Winner Isla Carney
Young Carer of the Year - Winner Connor Ward
This year's Youth Buzz Award winners are announced at a key point in Manchester's journey towards being recognised by UNICEF as a Child Friendly City, with the city having just agreed with children and young people which areas of focus they think it's important for the city to concentrate on improving over the next couple of years in order to achieve Child Friendly City status.
Councillor Garry Bridges, Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People said: "The Youth Buzz Awards showcase some of the most amazing young people in Manchester. Everyone who attended was blown away by the achievements of the winners and nominees as well as the performances on the night by the immensely talented young musicians who helped make the awards ceremony so special.
"We're working hard to make Manchester a Child Friendly City and these awards show just how much talent and commitment our young people have. Our winners are fantastic ambassadors for the city and we're determined to work with them and the city's many other inspirational young people to make Manchester the very best it can be."
Daanya Isla, Member of Youth Parliament for Manchester, whose term of office as a MYP is just coming to an end, said: "The Youth Buzz awards were a major success and so much fun! It was amazing to see all our efforts come together so nicely to celebrate the achievements of Manchester's young people. I'm very proud of them and so pleased we were able to organise and host this event to go out with a bang as our Youth MP terms come to an end."
This year's Youth Buzz Awards were delivered in partnership Skills for Life and with Rosgal Ltd who also sponsored the Outstanding Achievement by a Young Person award and were further supported by other sponsors including the Manchester Evening News, Ocean Outdoor, AE Yates Limited, GLL, We Love Manchester, Rosslee Construction, Substance, Thermal Road, MCR Active and The Manchester College.