Youngsters get to work planning prestigious Leeds awards

A group of young people are now busy planning the child friendly Leeds awards 2016 - a ceremony rewarding the young people, adults, places and organisations helping to make Leeds a fantastic city to grow up in.

The awards ceremony, held at Leeds City Varieties on 28 January, will be attended by leaders from around the city, including the Lord Mayor Leeds, and will celebrate everything child friendly in Leeds. The eight young people, aged 12 – 18 years have come together from a mixture of schools and colleges around the city and now have just three months to ensure the awards are a success.

As part of the planning process each young person will take on a bespoke role within the group. Whether they’re taking centre-stage to host the ceremony; designing the sound and lighting; or writing the script for the evening, the experience will mean working together to celebrate the achievements of the amazing people, places and organisations nominated for the child friendly awards.

The awards will showcase the talent, achievements and energy of the city’s children and young people and celebrate what individuals, places and organisations are doing to make Leeds a great place to grow up. The awards will pay a particular tribute to the help available for those children and young people who may have additional challenges – including children who are looked after by the council, or are particularly vulnerable, and those who have disabilities or additional needs.

Child Friendly Leeds ambassadors, first direct arena have offered a very special prize to encourage young people and their schools to take part in the nomination process that closes on 31 October. They are offering their VIP box at the Strictly Come Dancing on Tour and three lucky schools will be given four tickets each to attend. The school will receive a point for every nomination made in the three categories: Supporting Schools: Children’s Choice and the Children’s Champions: Under 11s and 11 – 18 years.

The winning schools will be those with the most points so young people submitting nominations will need to remember to include the name of their school.

Councillor Alice Smart, lead member for Child Friendly Leeds said:

“As part of our child friendly Leeds ambitions, we are working to give children and young people more voice and influence in the city. The child friendly Leeds awards are another example of this; young people have been given the opportunity to plan the ceremony and it’s now up to them to decide what happens.”

There is still time for everyone else to nominate people, places and organisations for this year’s awards in one of the following six categories:

• ‘Best place for children and young people in Leeds’ - awarded to the most welcoming place in the city to children and young people.
• ‘The Children’s Champion (age 0-11)’ - awarded to a child, in primary school or younger, helping to make Leeds a better place.
• ‘The Children’s Champion (age 11- 18)’ - awarded to a young person, in secondary school or older, helping to make Leeds a better place.
• ‘Looking after children and young people’ - awarded to an adult working to make the lives of children and young people better.
• ‘Best overall contribution to making Leeds a child friendly city’ - awarded to a business or organisation making a significant contribution to making Leeds a more child friendly city.
• Supporting schools ‘children’s choice’ – awarded to organisations, educators or individuals from outside the school’s regular staff, who work with, or in a school to inspire, inform, entertain, or support pupils.

The closing date for nominations is 31 October 2015.

Further information about the awards and how to nominate can be found at: www.childfriendlyleeds.wordpress.com/awards