Impact Awards recognises best of North East's young

The achievements of young people, youth workers and volunteers across the North East were recognised at the recent Impact Awards.

The awards, previously known as Projects with Pride, were held at the Grand Hotel in Gosforth, Newcastle, and acknowledged a number of projects across the region, from Teesside to Northumberland.

Organisers NE Youth are now preparing for their 90th anniversary next year with a number of important celebrations - and their annual award night will again shine the light on the incredible achievements of volunteers and projects who continue to make a significant impact in their communities.

This year’s awards, which attracted 370 guests and a record 118 nominations, were hosted by a brave group of young presenters from The Activity Den, complemented by performances throughout from four of the NE Youth member organisations - Horizon Cheerleading, Dylan Pederson, Care To Dance and ALF Hill.

Jon Niblo, chief executive at NE Youth, said: “We place great value at NE Youth on the contributions that young people make within their youth groups and the wider community and our annual awards night provides us with the platform to recognise the achievements of young people and the people that support them. 

“We could not do this without the loyal support of our award category sponsors and in particular this year's headline sponsor, the University of Sunderland. As we head towards our 90th anniversary in 2025, we are incredibly proud to once again celebrate all that is great about the youth sector."

With the new name for the event came three new categories: Mentor of the Year, Member of the Year and the Going Green Award, won by Michael Gibson, Pelton Youth Project and Buffalo Youth Projects and Cowpen Quay Community Association, respectively.

Sarah Beck, Academic Director of Apprenticeships at the University of Sunderland, who were the main sponsor of the awards said the aim was to zoom in on the incredible potential of young people in the North East and back NE Youth’s commitment to recognising and nurturing potential across the region to ensure a brighter future for generations to come.

She said: “We are absolutely delighted to be supporting the NE Youth Impact Awards. The University of Sunderland has a long history of providing education and training for community and youth workers in partnership with regional organisations in the sector, and last year we introduced an exciting new degree apprenticeship programme, enabling us to work even more closely together.

“We are fortunate to have received some additional funding from the Office for Students to help us to further develop the community and youth work apprenticeship, and this has enabled us to contribute towards sponsoring this year’s awards.

“At a time when high quality youth work is needed more than ever, it is a great pleasure to be involved with this event and to hear about all the fantastic work going on across the region."

The full list of winners is:

Project of the Year
Young Lives Action Foundation

Most Improved of the Year
Stepney Bank Stables

Sports, Leisure & Culture of the Year
Kai Leighton, The Mental Shift CIC

NE Youth Member of the Year
Pelton Youth Project

Partnership of the Year
KEY+ Transitions, The Key & Children North East

Trustee of the Year
Jonathan Hudson, Headliners

The Nigel Voules Keystone Award 
Tony Halliwell 

Mentor of the Year
Michael Gibson, Pelton Youth Project

Going Green Award
Buffalo Youth Projects, Cowpen Quay Community Association

Community Champion of the Year
Bryce Denholm, Cheesy Waffles Youth Project

Volunteer of the Year
Jess McStravick, YMCA Tees Valley

Young Achiever of the Year winner
Dylan Pederson, Odysseus Mentoring Project

Social Action of the Year
Action Foundation

Youth Worker of the Year
Sharuna Nixon, Building Self Belief

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