The Lord-Lieutenant’s Award for Young People 2008

Young people’s achievements will be celebrated at a special ‘Oscars’ style awards night hosted by Leicestershire’s Lord-Lieutenant. This is the second year that these awards have been held. The event took place on Tuesday 11^th March at County Hall in Glenfield.

The event saw young people from both Leicester and Leicestershire being rewarded for some of the most remarkable examples of dedication, service to others and outstanding personal achievements. The award, which is open to young people aged 13-19, is the first of its kind to be initiated by a Lord-Lieutenant. Lady Grettton wanted to identify and reward the best examples of achievement amongst our young people.

Lady Gretton, said: “As Lord-Lieutenant I have had the pleasure of meeting lots of remarkable young people who at times despite disadvantage or obstacles placed before them have shown great courage and dedication.”

Over 50 people were identified by members of the public, teachers and youth workers as potential candidates for the awards. The awards are divided into four categories each with three short-listed candidates, with one winner for each section and one overall winner. The runners-up in each category all receive ipod nano’s, other prizes include laptops and canoe equipment. Each category winner is awarded a prize worth £500.

Leicestershire County Council, Leicester City Council, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce, Leicester Shire Economic Partnership, Leicestershire Constabulary, Crimebeat, Leicestershire & Rutland Masonic Charity Association, Leicestershire Clubs for Young People, Leicestershire Constabulary, The Everard Foundation, William Davis Ltd., and Willmott Dixon Construction Ltd

1. Mahomed-Abraar Khatri has had difficulties with his vision since he was at primary school, but lost his vision totally as he began his GCSE's whilst at Judgemeadow College. This was a very bleak time for Mahomed. He found the strength of character from within to rise up from his despair to take his exams and achieve very good results. He had always liked sport and was not going to let his disability get in the way of his passion for cricket and football. He tried Blind Cricket and Blind Football and now represents England in both sports. He has always been very clear on what he wants and how he will do things. Because of his desire to have a guide-dog he had to challenge the Muslim tradition about not keeping dogs. The new guide dog is set to become the first dog in Britain to be permitted to enter a mosque. Before this could happen it was necessary for the mosque to take advice from imams and scholars at the Muslim Council of Britain, who carried out a full review of Islamic teaching on dogs. As a result Mahomed is now going to be one of only a small number of Muslims to have a guide dog in England. Guide Dogs for the Blind plan to make a film about this amazing young man.

2. Rachel Edwards has attended Abington High School for three and a half years. Throughout this time her approach to school has been exemplary, demonstrating enthusiasm and commitment to her studies and her peers.

Rachel was diagnosed with cancer at 4 months of age. She underwent major surgery and months of chemotherapy treatment. Despite limited hope, Rachel continued to battle against the odds and faced remission. Having overcome the cancer, Rachel has been left with crippling damage to her nervous system. Throughout the last three years she has had to face further surgery to improve her mobility. This has led to set backs and Rachel has had to rely on the use of her wheelchair more than her independent streak would like! She privately copes with the threat of further complications with no fuss or self-indulgence. Rachel’s bravery has enabled her to continually face every challenge presented to her. In fact she will actively seek opportunities to push herself further. She has become actively involved in disabled sports of all varieties. Her most recent achievements include 6 medals at the National Junior Games at Stoke Manderville, winning gold medals in both team events, such as hockey, and individually, in the wheelchair races. She has represented Great Britain in Holland playing wheelchair tennis. Furthermore she has represented Leicestershire at the Rotary championship helping the team to win the tournament. It is not just for sport that Rachel has a passion. She is an explorer scout and has recently been asked to volunteer her time as a young leader for a local beaver unit.

Rachel’s bravery is most evident in school in her everyday life. She is determined to be as involved as every other child in school. She is such a good friend that she places even more pressure upon herself to remain loyal to her friends at all times. She is a great role model for her peers and strives to be there in a supportive role at all times.

Students like Rachel are rare. The staff at Abington feel that she deserves to be rewarded for the positive way in which she faces every day, hence her nomination for the Lord-Lieutenant’s Award for Young People.

3. Asaf Ali has been a student at Crown Hills for 4 ½ years. During that period he has not enjoyed the best of times. He suffers from chronic renal failure. The transplant he had was unsuccessful which now means he has to spend 3 days a week on haemo-dialysis. He works at the hospital school during those 3 days and they cannot speak highly enough of him. He has also recently suffered from pneumonia resulting in another stay in hospital.

At school he never fails to give 100% and no matter how he is feeling, he is always smiling. He is extremely well liked and respected by his peers.

During his time at Crown Hills he has suffered 2 other traumatic periods in his personal life, with both his mum and grandmother, who lived with them, passed away. He is a very special young man who is a shining example to us all.

1. Christina Sapiano is a kind-hearted friend. She always puts people before herself and will go out of her way to help them.

When her little brother, Matthew, was diagnosed with having Downs Syndrome she found it quite hard to get to grips with. She loves her little brother more than life itself and will do whatever she can to protect him. He is the most loved child in the world thanks to Christina. She loves her brother enormously, if anything more than she ever felt she would. She never stops talking about him and cares for him so much. Christina attends meetings with the Downs Syndrome Association where she helps with other children as well. She has a strong understanding of the disability and doesn't falter to help anybody.

Matthew has a worker that comes to the house once a week to make sure he is meeting his development milestones. Christina helps her mother so much in teaching Matthew the activity he must achieve that week, whether it be actions to a song or putting objects in a box. She is extremely patient with him and would give her life for him. She is a brilliant sister, a wonderful friend and just a kind considerate person. Christina is a most deserving nominee for the Lord-Lieutenant’s Award.

2. Dayle Coleman has been a member of the Amazon Young Women's Project based in Loughborough since June 2006. She has during this time overcome issues of being bullied and has developed a range of new skills which have resulted in this nomination.

Dayle was one of the Amazon members who visited the Gambia in 2007 after astounding youth workers by the way she had started to turn her life around – she also became involved in a series of fundraising activities as the school in Gambia needed a roof.

Dayle was part of a huge charity auction which boosted the fundraising by £1,000. She also decided to start her own fundraising campaign visiting village garden parties with a fundraising stall. She visited Girl Guide groups and involved them in fundraising for the school roof. Whilst in Gambia Dayle worked in Madiana School teaching children basic maths and English alongside the teaching staff. This experience had such a profound effect on Dayle that she wrote an article for young people in the Youth Action publication.

She is currently fundraising to put safe drinking water in the village of Madiana as there is no access to safe water and children have to walk 5km to the nearest well. She has become an inspirational leader of the fundraising and when the Amazons returned in February 2008 Dayle played a key role in supporting her peers whilst they too get involved at the school. She is using the skills and knowledge to extend her understanding of the world and sharing those experiences within her community – undertaking presentations at Girl Guide events and was part of an Amazon presentation in September 2006.

Dayle is a very calm capable young woman who has developed the respect of not only her peers but the youth work staff as well.

3. Jaspreet Kaur Aulakh has dedicated a lot of time, effort and compassion in voluntarily serving people. Firstly every week she commits time as a ward support volunteer at the Leicester Royal Infirmary where she spends time talking and helping patients from all different walks of life. When first starting the work she was upset over the situations and difficulties of the ill but as she has progressed she now feels that this experience has made her stronger.

At the weekend Jaspreet works as a Saturday day care volunteer at Age Concern, which includes helping, feeding, and talking to elderly people.

She has also offered her skills in raising funds for a community organisation, the Good Values Club, which aims to teach children in the community, human values. She worked with people from her community to organise cultural evenings, and she arranged an educational trip to the Houses of Parliament and worked with Member of Parliament, Sir Peter Soulsby. The trip was very successful in showing children the benefit and importance of the British society and their heritage.

Jaspreet has raised funds for the charity “Wishes 4 Kids”. After seeing an article in the newspaper, Jaspreet was motivated to raise money for a girl who was suffering from leukaemia by selling hand-made cards. She has also dedicated time on Sundays serving hot meals to people from all communities at a communal hall.

Jaspreet has been acknowledged as a gifted and talented student and has been rewarded with an award for her efforts. As part of her Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award Jaspreet has helped promote Interfaith Fellowships and has talked and raised awareness about her faith on several occasions.

Jaspreet is a kind, compassionate, and calm young lady who is always willing to help and never says no. With this positive attitude she has made a huge difference to the community. It is remarkable what she has achieved academically while dedicating her time to the service of others. It is also truly amazing how she manages her community service, education and looking after her disabled mother while her father works night shifts. Jaspreet wishes to develop a career in medicine and has been offered a place to study medicine at university. She is extremely well-mannered and polite and treats everyone with respect. She is a role model for modern youth.

1. Joel Cummins joined St. John as a Badger at 6 years of age and gained his “Super Badger” Award before going on to be a Cadet at 10 years. Now 13 years, Joel is a very keen member of Southfields Division, and is highly regarded for his very supportive and helpful attitude.

Joel showed great leadership qualities during the ‘Saffron Acres Project.’ He was always happy to turn up to carry out any task required to be done – digging, clearing rubbish, and preparing the 4 acres of very neglected allotments, which were turned into a Community garden. In October 2006 he cleared a large area, and returned later in the year to help plant trees. In April he helped plant wild flowers, having already planted bulbs in March. In later months he continued to care for the ground at the project, watering and weeding and preparing a vegetable area.

He could always be relied upon to tidy up and put tools away and carry out any task asked of him. He has done over 160 hours of public duty which makes him a very deserving nominee for the Lord-Lieutenant’s Award for community service.

2. Toby Sharp has been part of Leicestershire Clubs for Young People for several years. He was originally part of a project in the New Parks area for young people not attending school. At this point in time Toby rarely left the house and did not take part in any activities. He cared for his younger sisters much of the time. He did not achieve any qualifications at school and was unsure of his future.

In the last few years he has become more confident and began to volunteer at New Parks Club for Young People. Within this time he has taken part in many activities and is especially keen to take part in the annual 100 mile canoe challenge, which he has completed on more than one occasion.

Last year his canoe equipment was stolen just before the canoe challenge, which upset him greatly. He did take part eventually and yet again completed the course.

Two years ago Toby won the National Clubs for Young People Award for an outstanding contribution to his club. Here he has continued to volunteer as an assistant worker, has raised money for a community project, and helped to set up a website charting the history of the youth club.

Toby continues to work hard for his community and supports many other young people in the club. He is an excellent example of how a disaffected young person can have a real impact at a local level.

Toby is now almost at the end of a youth work apprenticeship scheme which will give him a nationally accredited qualification. He has worked very hard during the last year to complete his portfolio, which includes child protection training.

He now has a paid post working with the junior club and he is expected to go on and continue his learning.

In addition to this Toby also volunteers at The Oaks Camp site for the Scouts doing maintenance work and leading activities.

3. Aziz Easat is a very impressive young person who has been involved in many projects to benefit the community. He was chairperson of an anti bullying group while he was at Gartree High School and spoke on their behalf at a conference. He worked with Big Dave to raise awareness of the anti bullying project. Aziz received a Princess Diana Award for his contribution to anti bullying and was interviewed on Radio 5 Live.

Aziz attended an NSPCC training course and subsequently appeared in an advertisement for them. He is a certified first aider and has a Junior Sports Leader award. Aziz has helped in charity fund raising by having his legs waxed. He is also a member of Kin, a community-police liaison initiative. Aziz volunteered to take part in the Right to Read Scheme and worked with pupils at Launde Primary School.

Aziz is central to Beauchamp College developing a national reputation for the concept of the ‘Student Voice’. While still a high school pupil at Gartree he represented his school at Nottingham University and went on a visit to the Houses of Parliament with Member of Parliament, Edward Garnier. For two years he gave a speech at the Beauchamp Year 10 Open Day. Recently he has been elected from a panel of 6 by a free vote among the eleven hundred sixth form Beauchamp students to be 1 of 2 student governors. Here, with full voting rights, he represents students’ interests and has also been a guest speaker at national teachers’ conferences.

Besides all this, Aziz has found time fully to research his career interests and has had some valuable medicine-related work experiences.

1. Jess Evans has been a member of the UK Youth Parliament for Leicester City for 2 years, elected by her peers in open City elections.

Jess is a young person who chose to stand for re election after a busy first year (where other young people had given up around her) and has tirelessly campaigned on behalf of young people throughout this time. She has campaigned against the installation of mosquito devices used to deter young people from gathering in certain areas. She is also campaigning for better, cheaper and safer public transport for young people. Together with other Members of the Youth Parliament Jess has organised a petition about the transport issue, presented a motion to the city council and is now busy chasing this through the long democratic processes.

Jess has also worked hard to ensure the first election of Leicester City’s young people’s council was a success and has been heavily involved in training and supporting the new young councillors.

Jess has shown a great deal of tenacity and commitment in her role and has met with officials of the City Council in order to further the issues for young people of the City. Jess has also represented young people at regional and national events and UK Youth Parliament sittings.

Jess is also a keen member of ‘the Jitty’ a young people’s group based in the county that provides a website for young people to provide them with advice and information about issues and services for them.

With this work Jess has recently been involved in delivering a seminar at a high profile conference in London on the issue of internet safeguarding for young people.

Whilst undertaking these duties she has shown commitment and compassion, understanding and support to new less able youth councillors, particularly those with additional needs.

In addition to all this Jess is a young carer who offers support to her father who has physical disabilities (as a result of military service) and uses a wheelchair. She is especially supportive when championing disability issues and has a very capable manner with young people who also have disabilities.

Jess’s seemingly endless enthusiasm for her role as an advocate for the issues of young people in the city is inspiring. She certainly makes sure those adults who work with her, and those that she comes into contact with, in connection with the aim of raising the voice of young people in the city, are reminded of the importance of this aim.

2. Shanveer Hare occupies 1 of 8 places on the Youth Action Funding Team; a position she gained having applied and attended a competitive interview with other candidates. She was the youngest person appointed to the team. Together with her colleagues Shanveer receives application forms from young people, before assessing them and coming to a decision on whether or not they are eligible for up to £250 worth of grant. They aim to build young people's confidence, interpersonal skills and sense of community belonging so that they can believe in themselves and their abilities, and to make the most of their lives.

Shanveer works with the Reload Project magazine for young people, researching and writing articles for the magazine. Her articles aim to inspire young people, to give them a wider understanding and reviews of events, as well as beauty tips or career advice.

The magazine is distributed to almost all secondary schools, colleges and youth centres in Leicestershire.

Following a successful application to Media Box, Shanveer secured a grant to organise a fashion show which aimed to highlight that all shapes and sizes of body are beautiful. The models all came from the local community, and proceeds went to the Rainbow Trust.

Shanveer is also part of the Young Inspectors Team which goes out to inspect services that young people use, ranging from buses to youth centres and facilities. Following the inspection process a report is written up and a charter mark given out. This project involves Shanveer going out interviewing young people who use these services, using their opinions in the overall rating, and ensuring that they are given a voice in saying how they want things to change.

Shanveer takes part in these projects because she knows that she can make a difference and most of all she enjoys the things she does.

3. Demi Barton is an active member of the Active Citizenship Encouragement project Steering group where she helps to drive the project forward with fresh ideas, taking on board the views of young people.

She applied to the Youth Opportunities Fund and secured thirteen thousand pounds funding for a project called We All Matter, which aims to bring together young people with and without disabilities. She also helped in planning a summer scheme activities programme which ran in 2006 and 2007 for young people with and without disabilities.

Demi’s busy workload includes being part of a young persons interview panel for the Leicester Children’s Fund and the National Youth Agency; attending conferences on the UN Convention on the rights of the child in London; taking part in grant panel training; and, helping to award over £120,000 of grants to young people’s projects in the City through the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund.

Demi has organised, planned and facilitated a celebration event with staff from Leicester Children’s Fund to celebrate the success and participation of young people through the Children’s Fund projects; facilitated a Sharing Effective Practice event for professionals; and facilitated a drugs awareness workshop.

As a school mentor at Winstanley Community College, Demi helps Year 7 students settle into school and has just started to take part in developing a young persons board for Voluntary Action Leicester (VAL) sharing ideas and helping to recruit new young people.

Demi is also helping to produce a citizenship resource for young people that will aim to help them understand how they can become positive citizens by getting involved in the local community.