WIREDGOV

Last night the Youth Work Excellence Awards, showcasing outstanding achievements by youth workers, were handed out at a ceremony in Cardiff’s Mercure Holland House Hotel.

The ceremony was compared by comedian and broadcaster Tudur Owen and the awards presented by Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology, Julie James.

Deputy Minister, Julie James, said:

“A youth worker’s role is vital in supporting young people along on their journey into adult life. Youth workers’ support and empower young people during this journey.

“The 63 nominations for tonight’s awards reflect the wide range of work being done to support our young people and the commitment of youth workers up and down the country.”

Projects based in Conwy and Pembrokeshire each won three awards.

Individual winners were:

The Outstanding National Youth Worker award for going above and beyond the requirements of their role to provide support and have positive influence on the lives of young people went to William Andrew Speddy from Gwynedd Youth Service.    

Young people were asked to nominate a youth worker or a youth work project which they believed had gone that extra mile to support young people for the Your Choiceaward. Nominations were made via short videos and a panel of young people voted for the winner.

Mike Smith, the media co-ordinator from the Barry YMCA won after being nominated by James Rees, a volunteer media assistant. For the past two years Mike has helped James on his road to recovery following an accident that affected his sight.

Project winners were:

Conwy Youth Service won the Outstanding youth work project that supports and promotes Welsh culture award for its Cwl Cymru project. Young people across the country had the opportunity to learn about the history and mythology of Wales. Their work led to 51 people gaining Agored Entry Level 3 module qualifications. .

Conwy Youth Service  also won the Outstanding school based youth work project award for its targeted work with over 200 young people at eight local schools. A number of projects looked at a range of issues ranging from homophobia to caffeine consumption to discovering Welsh culture.

The Outstanding youth work project that supports the development of new skills for young people award went to Conwy Youth Service for its Accreditation Project. Several hundred young people across the county had the opportunity to study a range of subjects in their own time and gain qualifications.

The Outstanding youth work project that supports the health and wellbeing of young people award went to the Parallel Lives project run by the Media Academy, Cardiff.

The award recognises youth workers who have raised awareness of important issues amongst young people and helped make informed decisions about their wellbeing. The Parallel Lives project has worked with 53 families to reduce cases of child against parent domestic violence.

The Outstanding arts youth work project award went to South of the Youth, the Popworks Youth Centre, Pembrokeshire.

This award recognises projects that encourage engagement in the arts and opportunities to learn new skills. Young people at the Popworks Youth Centre planned and ran a number of musical events and shows for their local community.

The Pembrokeshire Youth Assembly won the Outstanding youth work forum project award for its work with young people and the local authority. Young people work with policy makers on decisions made about services that affect them.  They have had the opportunity todevelop skills in areas such as public speaking, delivering presentations and running meetings.

The Outstanding youth work project that supports young people into education, employment or training award went to the Delivering the Difference for a Better Tomorrow transition programme run in Pembrokeshire. This is a joint programme run by Pembrokeshire Youth, Sodexo Defence Services and the Army to offer young people three week’s training and work experience with local, large employers.

Of the young people who have successfully completed the programme four out of ten have gained employment with Sodexo and an additional three out of ten enrolled in college.