The 2016 Youth Awards, a new event hosted by Young Hackney, celebrated the achievements of  young people who have gone the extra mile over the last year.

The Mayor of Hackney was on hand to present the awards and congratulate young people for all their hard work. The categories ranged from achievements in Sport and the Arts, to recognition for volunteering and overcoming adversity. Skye Fitzgerald McShane, 15, winner Community Impact Award, said: ‘There are loads of young people who do interesting and helpful things for the community, but they don’t always get the credit they deserve.’

Inspiring young people

Over the night, the audience heard some truly inspirational stories.  Pooja Kaur, who won an Award for volunteering has already done over 200 hours of community work with the Police Cadets and has been involved with Crime Prevention, Test Purchase, Police operations and Estate clean ups.

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‘I think it’s really empowering to help young people and I’m happy that young people played a big part in organising the event. It’s great to acknowledge young people’s achievements.’

Maria Nikolova, 17, Award winner.

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Emma Hall won an award for overcoming  extremely challenging life events. Despite the adversity she had to face, Emma has managed to focus on passing her exams, hold a part-time job, and is now attending university in Bangor.

Making the borough a better place

Mayor of Hackney, Philip Glanville, plans to make the awards an annual celebration: “It is important to recognise all of the hard work and time young people put in to give back to their local communities. It was amazing to see the enthusiasm and determination that these young people have to make the borough a better place for all. Well done to everyone who received their awards and to all those who organised the event.”

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Award Winners

 

Sport

• Junior: Nicole Caicedo
• Senior: Emmanuel Wabwire

Arts & Culture

• Junior: Jasmine Williams
• Senior: Tayeb Grace

Young Adventure (NB this Award did not have Junior and Senior categories).

• Jacori Gremnel
• Wren Goldsmith

Outstanding Volunteer

• Nne Owuasu
• Pooja Kaur

Community Impact

• Justice League of Hackney (Louis Comach, Maria Nikolova, Ella Cox, Jennifer Jackson, Kierra Jayde Campbell. Moonisah Parvin, Skye Fitzgerald Mcshane, Alima Lakhouane)
• Youth Opportunity Fund Panel (Sharmen Begum, Alima Lakhouane, Maria Nikolova, Kennedy Nwosu, Moonisah Parvin, Danielle Saliba)

Overcoming Adversity

• Junior: Rakeem Charles
• Senior: Emma Hall

Inspirational Young Person

• Junior: Raviene Walters
• Senior: Rita Adejei

 

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