Wandsworth Young Person of the Year
The Young Person of the Year Award honours young people in Wandsworth who deserve recognition for their achievement, courage, generous attitude or ability to overcome difficult personal circumstances.
The award happens every spring with certificates, trophies and prizes presented by the Mayor of Wandsworth at a special dinner in the Civic Suite.
Wandsworth Young Person of the Year is run by the Trustees and Wandsworth Council with sponsorship from The Wandsworth Group of Rotary Clubs and Wandsworth Community Safety Trust.
How to qualify
To qualify, you must be:
- Under 19 (from 1 September 2019)
- Living or studying in Wandsworth Borough
The awards
There are three different awards:
- The individual award
- Group award
- Grant funding
The individual award
This award is worth up to £500 and is given for:
- Outstanding achievement in education, sports or the arts
- Making a major contribution to your school or local community
- Overcoming difficulties or setbacks
- Contribution to community safety
One overall winner is chosen by the Trustees to be the 'Wandsworth Young Person of The Year'.
Group award
This award is up to £100, for young people who have carried out voluntary work.
Grant funding
This award is up to £500, to help a young person or a group build on existing achievement and reach their next goal.
How to nominate
Include as much information as possible and specific examples about why the young person or group you are nominating are exceptional and deserving of an award or grant.
Write a minimum of 300 and no more than 500 words.
Examples from previous years:
- Hubbab won the Young Person of the Year Award and £500 for achievements, leadership and drive, and her commitment to helping others. She has also led teams to success in national and international business and innovation competitions, and volunteers in her local community, including for the British Heart Foundation. She works with the police to engage with young people and has developed out-of-school sports activities to keep young people out of trouble. On top of all that she is a published poet through the 2016 First Story Programme.
- The Police Cadets won a Group Award and £100 for their voluntary work in the community including running knife and crime awareness workshops.
- Baily, an Army Cadet, won the Community Safety award and £100 for charity work, mentoring and teaching young people and helping divert them from crime.
- Alex won the Rotary Award and £300 for chairing the Youth Council, ensuring young people's voices are heard with the police and Council, and running confidence building workshops.
- Emily won the overcoming adversity award and £250 for setting up a project in Tooting Hub to integrate and support young people with disabilities into mainstream youth provision. She also does disability awareness education sessions with the NHS and other staff.
- Rachel won the Young Person of the Year Award and £500 for turning her life around, training in construction and starting a women into construction course. She then educated women overseas.