This year marks three years since the beginning of the Angus Youth Awards. The first round of the awards took place in the 2020 lockdown. The awards began after Angus Council recognised that young people were at their lowest due to lockdown. The project started through a collaboration with youth workers in the Angus area.
Pauline Rettie, who is involved with the campaign, said:
“We wanted a way to recognise the young people’s achievements that had taken place over the previous year.”
These awards are unique. They operate through a process of nominations which are then shortlisted. There were many categories open for nominations in this round, including sports and group achievement. These categories were decided upon through a collaboration with young people in Angus.
Incorporating the views of young people was “crucial” according to Pauline. She added: “These awards are really individual…they allow young people to be recognised for what they have specifically been doing.”
These awards have already had a positive impact on some of the young people in the area. Pauline shared that they have reached out to previous winners from last round. These winners have shared that being nominated has helped them. One winner said that winning helped to increase his business prospects.
Kaelyn Robertson, a nominee in this round, shared: “Being nominated feels really good…having your confidence and self esteem boosted is a really good thing.”