Leeds youngsters get together to plan prestigious Leeds awards

A group of young people are now busy planning the child friendly Leeds awards 2017 - 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 2 February, will be attended by leaders from around Leeds, including the Lord Mayor of Leeds, to celebrate everything that makes Leeds a child friendly city. The fourteen young people, aged 12–18 years have come together from a mixture of schools and colleges around the city and have just three months to ensure this year’s 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; working on sound and lighting; or writing the script for the evening, the experience will mean working together to celebrate the achievements of those outstanding people, places and organisations nominated for the child friendly awards.

Media opportunity:

When: Thursday 20 October at 5:00pm

Where: City Varieties Music Hall, Swan Street

Members of the media are invited to come along to photograph the new planning group for the child friendly Leeds awards along with Cllr Alice Smart.

Councillor Lisa Mulherin, Executive Member for Children and Families said:

"The Child Friendly Leeds Awards are an annual celebration of the people and places that are going the extra mile to help us meet our ambition to be the best city to grow up in. I hope that people and organisations across the city will take the opportunity to nominate their child friendly heroes for an award."

The awards will showcase the talent, achievements and energy of the city’s children and young people and celebrate the work that 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.

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 you to nominate the people, places and organisations who will make up the nominations for this year’s awards in one of the following six categories:

Child of the Year (two awards - under 11 years old, and 11 to 18)This award celebrates a child or young person who has done or achieved something exceptional. It could be someone who makes a big contribution to their local community or a young person who is caring for a friend or loved one who needs extra support.

Organisations Inspiring SchoolsThis award recognises the invaluable support that pupils and schools receive from within their local community. This could be local 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.

Adult Inspiring Children and Young PeopleThis award recognises the people who care for, support and inspire Leeds children and young people every day. The award will celebrate what adults do every day to help make Leeds the best place for children and young people to grow up in.

Best Place for Children and Young PeopleThis is the award for the places and spaces where children and young people love spending their time. It could be a shop, venue, group, school, youth club or a local café that always puts children and families first.

Best Overall Contribution​This is the award for the business, organisation, team or individual that has shown true commitment and made a meaningful contribution to making Leeds the best UK city to grow up in. We want to hear about the numerous initiatives across Leeds that give children and young people opportunities, inspiration and optimism for the future.

The closing date for nominations is 31 October 2016.

Further information about the awards and how to nominate can be found at: www.childfriendlyleeds.co.uk