Youth Awards celebrate our young people in style
The East Ayrshire Youth Awards took place this week with a glamorous Grammys-style theme at the Park Hotel in Kilmarnock.
The event was organised by young people with the help of East Ayrshire Council’s Vibrant Communities team, and the Grammys theme was reflected in the pre-ceremony mocktail reception and the glitzy outfits worn by guests.
Provost Jim Todd and David McGilp, Chair of the East Ayrshire Children and Young People’s Cabinet, hosted the ceremony while music was provided by Charmaine Shek.
The winners on the night were:
- Diversity and Inclusion Champion: Ruby Sharpe
- Climate Change Champion: New Cumnock Primary School
- Young Volunteer Champion: Hannah McEwan
- Sporting and Physical Activities Champion: Aaron Sarwar
- Unsung Hero: COVID Champion: Ruby Urquhart
- Unsung Hero: Young Carers' Champion: Kelle Murray
- Youth Voice Champion: Paige Holland
- Champion Apprentice: Jason Weir
- Health and Wellbeing Champion: Kieran McMaster
- STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) Champion: Isla Grant
- Inspiring Young Person of the Year: Hannah Martin
- Depute Provost's Award for East Ayrshire’s Young Champion (overall winner): Kelle Murray
The Children and Young People’s Cabinet also received a special recognition award for the work they do to campaign on issues of importance to young people in East Ayrshire.
Councillor Graham Barton, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: “This is the first ceremony we’ve held since 2018 due to the pandemic and we were delighted to be back to celebrate the incredible positivity, determination and kindness of our young people across East Ayrshire.
“We received an impressive 160 nominations for this year’s awards which made the job of shortlisting nominees a very difficult one. All of the nominees were deserving of an award – from stories of overcoming personal trauma and difficult times, to young people supporting their communities or competing in national sporting competitions – each one was truly inspirational and spoke volumes about the strength of character that our young people have today.
“I congratulate all of our winners and nominees and thank everyone who took the time to submit a nomination. All of the young people involved on the night should be extremely proud of themselves.”
More photos available on Flickr
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