THE ACHIEVEMENTS and contribution to the community made by Lancashire’s young people have been recognized at a glittering awards ceremony earlier this week.
At the Celebrate Youth ceremony, young people’s achievements in areas such as volunteering, community engagement and sport were recognised.
The event was held at Park Hall in Charnock Richard. It was organised by Lancashire County Council’s Young People’s Service. Awards were presented to the following young people by VIPs and celebrities including the Blackburn Rovers footballer, Markus Olsson.
Winner of the Community Engagement Award
POWAR, a Lancashire-wide group consisting of young people between the age of 10 and 21.
Winner of the Beyond Barriers Award
Philip Newby, 18, from Skelmersdale.
Winner of the Inspiring Volunteering or Advocacy Award
Joe Henry, 16, from Whitworth.
Winner of the Sporting Achievement Award
Ryan Grenfell, 13, from Bacup.
Winner of the Artistic Achievement Award
Jake Holland, 19 from Morecambe.
Winner of the Improving Lives Award
Lancashire Youth Council Sex and Relationships Education Campaign Group, a Lancashire-wide group consisting of young people between the age of 13 and 19.
County Councillor Matthew Tomlinson, cabinet member for children, young people and schools, said:
“I’d like to thank everyone involved in organising Celebrate Youth. For an awards ceremony to run smoothly, you need a huge number of people to work closely together on every aspect of the event. Last night’s ceremony is a testimony to the dedication and commitment of staff in the young people’s service.
Congratulations to the winners and let’s not forget those young people who were shortlisted for an award. I read all of the nominations and the standard was amazingly high.
“Celebrate Youth is becoming well-established in the county council’s calendar. It’s superb that here in Lancashire, we pay full tribute to our young people whose achievements and contributions to the community deserve to be fully recognised.”
The Sporting Achievement Award was presented by Blackburn Rovers’ Swedish international footballer, Markus Olsson: “It was great to meet a young man who’s so passionate about his sport. Ryan’s achieved so much already. He’s a worthy winner and I’d like to wish him all the best for the future.”
At the end of the ceremony, the overall winner of the Pinnacle Award was announced. Philip Newby, winner of the Beyond Barriers award, was chosen by people on the evening.
“I had a great night last night and really enjoyed myself,” said Philip.
Philip Newby receiving the Pinnacle Award from LCC’s Interim Chief Executive, JO Turton and County Councillor Nikki Hennessy, lead member for schools.
“I would like to thank the young people’s service and everyone involved for making it such a brilliant event. I was delighted to have won the Beyond Barriers award and I am very grateful to Helen Watson for nominating me for it. However, when the pinnacle award was announced I was honestly shocked. I can’t believe that I won it as I feel there were other people and groups more deserving of it than me.
“Nevertheless, I am honoured and proud to have won these awards. I would once again like to thank everyone for their input last night and congratulate all the other award winners and nominees for their achievements.”
The ceremony was compered by Ashley Murphy, Mike Osliffe and Curtis Mohammedian. Last year’s Sporting achievement winner, Infinite Flow, along with Megane Weaver and Rob Caunce (duet), Tom Gregory (solo singer), Adam Williams (solo singer), Lucas Fletcher (acoustic solo singer) and! ‘Fourth Time Lucky’, provided the entertainment.
Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner, Clive Grunshaw, said: “I was delighted to present the Community Engagement award at last night’s event.
“All the young people involved were truly inspirational, and I would like to congratulate all the winners for the outstanding contributions they are making to their communities within Lancashire.”
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