On Friday 5th November, the annual YMCA Youth Matters Awards ceremony, which celebrates the achievements of young people, staff, volunteers and projects, took place at the Sheraton Grand Place Hotel in London. The biggest Youth Matters Awards ceremony to date was hosted by comedian and quizzer, Paul Sinha, from ITV’s The Chase.
We were delighted to be finalists in two categories, Young Campaigner of the Year (Genevieve Duque-Adao) and Health and Wellbeing Project of the Year (e-wellbeing). Genevieve, their project worker and family members attended the awards ceremony along with staff members and Youth Ambassadors from the e-wellbeing team.
The Young Campaigner of the Year award recognises a young person for the impact they have had campaigning for a cause and creating real change in the lives of others. Listen to Genevieve’s testimony here.
The Health and Wellbeing award recognises YMCAs that have delivered innovative and inspiring projects that have had a positive impact on young people and/or the wider community. Learn more about why e-wellbeing were nominated here.
While we were disappointed not to win on Friday, we were incredibly inspired by all the stories and hard work from fellow young people, staff, volunteers and projects from YMCAs across England and Wales.
Nicola Harvey, Digital Development and Participation Lead, e-wellbeing, commented:
“We’re so proud that e-wellbeing became finalists in the Health and Wellbeing category at the Youth Matters Awards! It was an honour to attend such a prestigious awards ceremony with e-wellbeing’s Youth Ambassadors to celebrate our achievements. Hearing about all the amazing projects and young people from YMCAs across the country was incredibly inspiring. Congrats to everyone involved!”
Tobi Roberts, Genevieve’s project worker, added:
“I am so proud of Genevieve. They’ve always been our winner!”
Congratulations to both Genevieve and e-wellbeing on being finalists and thank you to everyone who took the time to cast a vote to support them.
