Previous Awards
If you would like a taster of what to expect from the next Child Friendly Leeds awards ceremony, here are the highlights from the last 3 years.
2022 CFL awards
Returning for the first time since 2020, the eighth awards were presented at an incredible ‘futuristic’ ceremony at Leeds City Varieties Hall on Tuesday 5 July 2022.
The event also marked the celebration of Child Friendly Leeds’ 10th birthday.
Planned and delivered by a group of 10 to 17 year olds, the ceremony was attended by an audience of 400 people, including the Lord Mayor of Leeds, city leaders and VIP guests. The awards showcase the diverse talent, significant achievements and energy of the city’s children and young people, as well as highlighting and celebrating those people, places and organisations that are dedicated to making Leeds a child friendly city.
An amazing 304 nominations were received across the city for inspiring young people, child friendly places, people who go the extra mile and fantastic organisations and community groups and 29 lucky nominees made the shortlist.
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Winners of the 2022 awards
Child/Young Person of the Year
Amran Neshat: Amran is a John Smeaton Academy pupil who provided invaluable support to new refugees from Afghanistan when they joined the school. As a fluent speaker of Darsi/Farsi, Amran put them at ease, supported teachers with translation and led his peers in providing a warm welcome. The new pupils are thriving in school, thanks to Amran’s awe-inspiring compassion.
Youth Group of the Year
Rothwell Windmill Youth Club: This tenacious group started meeting their youth workers in the local park when they couldn’t access their club building during the pandemic. They committed to meeting regularly outdoors throughout, to support each other with their mental health through this difficult period. The group surpassed expectations campaigning to save their group and supported their community through the pandemic.
Adult Making a Difference for Young People
Julie Roper: Julie is a longstanding member of the Girls’ Brigade and is an inspiring role model for young girls. She promotes a healthy lifestyle, community spirit and the importance of being an active citizen and supporting others. During the pandemic, she continued badge work, games and competitions for the girls and became a valuable source of support.
Schools Award for Local Heroes
Zarach Leeds & Bex Wilson: Bex founded Zarach in 2018. The charity began by providing a proper bed to children living in Leeds without one. They have since expanded their services to offer food clubs, emergency electricity and gas supplies, school uniform exchange, and holiday projects and are committed to improving outcomes for children experiencing hardship.
Inspiring Creativity Through Arts and Culture
LS18 Rocks: During the pandemic, young musicians at LS18 Rocks excelled themselves by raising thousands for charity. They recorded a song that attracted worldwide publicity and funded an older person’s social project, staged fundraising concerts for refugees and also launched a project to raise climate change awareness that has resulted in a collaboration with the world-famous Hallé Orchestra.
Best Place in Leeds for Children and Young People
Think Like a Pony: Think Like a Pony is a supportive place for children of all ages with emotional, behavioural and mental health challenges. Young people work directly with ponies that have experienced similar challenges. Mentored by knowledgeable staff who teach invaluable coping strategies for everyday life, they are supported to make positive changes and build confidence and self-esteem.
Overall Contribution to Making Leeds a Child Friendly City
Leeds Baby Bank: Leeds Baby Bank supports families across Leeds, who require baby essentials. From nappies and formula to buggies, clothing, and toys; they provide everything needed to support families caring for pre-school children. They not only ensure children are safe, clothed, and fed, but also connect families to other services in their area for ongoing support.
2020 CFL awards
The winners of the seventh Child Friendly Leeds awards were announced at a star-studded ‘Space’ themed ceremony at Leeds City Varieties on Thursday 6 February 2020.
The awards showcased the diverse talent, significant achievements and energy of the city’s children and young people, as well as highlighting and celebrating those people, places and organisations that are dedicated to making Leeds a child friendly city.
The ceremony was attended by an audience of 400 people including the Lord Mayor of Leeds, City Leaders and VIP guests.
A significant number of nominations were received across the city for inspiring young people, child friendly places, people who go the extra mile and fantastic organisations and community groups, with the winners announced at the special event.
The planning team - Tentastic Productions
The prestigious ceremony was organised by a group of 10 enthusiastic and dedicated young people, Tentastic Productions.
The young people, aged eleven to fifteen, planned every aspect of the ceremony, from designing the decorations and writing the script, to selecting the young and talented performers who entertained guests on the night.
The Tentastics were supported by the Leeds City Varieties Learning Team who ran weekly sessions to support them.
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Winners of the 2020 awards
Child of the Year (under 11)
Lee Newton is a dedicated individual who gives up considerable amounts of time to help his school; such as arriving early to help teachers and other children, and working with the superintendent to keep the school safe. He is also part of the school mental health ambassador’s team, who train to support people who are struggling.
Young Person of the Year (11 to 21)
Danny Hirst was born with a hole in his heart. In 2016, he had a mechanical valve fitted. He has fundraised for the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund in many ways such as; organising a ‘Wear Red Day’, taking part in ‘Superhero Walks’, doing a 10-storey building abseil, and persuading his mum to jump out of a plane!
Youth group of the year (up to 25)
The Tribe Youth Group offers opportunities to develop skills and confidence through the I am Me project with Beyond Inspired whilst making a positive contribution to the community with projects including Buddy Bags, community clean ups, and food collections. They have also encouraged local businesses to give up single-use plastic.
Adult Making a Difference for Young People
Jamie Hutchison created Studio12 - creating avenues into work for disadvantaged young people aged 16 to 30 by providing free access to a production studio and training. Jamie broadened the horizons of young people in Leeds by campaigning to bring Channel4 to the city and producing a bid film that won the hearts of the broadcaster’s bosses.
Communities and Schools Working Together
Let's Read aims to improve learning and achievement for children, increasing their future educational and employment opportunities. Manager Gail oversees a programme of recruitment, training and support for volunteers from businesses and local communities, enabling the project to provide schools with support for children who are falling behind with their reading and literacy skills.
Inspiring Creativity through Arts and Culture
Wrongsemble is a theatre company made up of professional artists and practitioners who specialise in working with and creating work for young people, schools and families. They provide free entry for Refugee and Asylum Seeker families and place accessibility and diversity at the heart of everything they do.
Best Place in Leeds for Children and Young People
Little Hiccups have provided a place for young people with disabilities and their families to meet and share experiences. Founded by parents who have children with disabilities they recognised the need for such a group from personal experience, the group has grown to provide invaluable support and opportunities to many families across the city.
Overall Contribution to Making Leeds a Child Friendly City
The Outward Bound Trust play an important role in enabling some of the most vulnerable young people to have access to their life changing summer residential programmes and opportunities that without financial assistance would not be possible. Those who take part gain important life skills and take away lasting memories and friendships.
2019 CFL awards
The seventh annual awards in 2019 were planned by a group of 13 young people called The Dynamics.
They worked hard to organise every aspect of the awards and hosted the memorable evening. There were just under 600 nominations made across the eight categories with an additional special recognition award.
The awards were hosted by Leeds City Varieties and sponsored by aql, Trinity Leeds, White Rose Shopping Centre, Victoria Leeds, HCP, Yorkshire Housing, Yorkshire Transformations, Pinnacle PSG, Morgan Sindall and First Direct Arena.
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Winners of the 2019 awards
Child of the Year (under 11)
Imogen Lawrence suffered a major loss in her family and went through counselling. Through her perseverance and resilience, the rest of her school have come to learn about dealing with difficult issues.
Young Person of the Year (11 – 21)
John Dunwell had a kidney transplant a number of years ago and is now a successful sportsman. He is instrumental in fundraising so other Leeds competitors can attend the National Transplant Games.
Youth Group of the Year
Out 2 18 and Transtastic Youth Group offer a safe place to meet for young people aged 13 - 25 years who identify as LGBT, and are a lifeline for them.
Adult Making a Difference for Young People (adult 21 years and above)
Lisa James set up ZigZag (a support group for young people with autism and their families) and runs a community shop in Cookridge, which provides work experience and volunteering opportunities for people with autism.
Communities and Schools Working Together
‘The Hall Meets Hovingham’ Dementia Project involved pupils from Hovingham Primary visiting The Hall (a care home) with a view to raising awareness about dementia and contributing to the health and well-being of the older residents.
Inspiring Creativity through Arts and Culture
Life Experience are a social enterprise who support children, teenagers and vulnerable adults, by sharing real life experiences through the medium of poetry and drama, to encourage young people to avoid a life of crime and drug addiction.
Best Place in Leeds for Children and Young People
Herd Farm Residential and Activity Centre is a grade two listed converted barn transformed into a 50-bed residential and outdoor inclusive activity centre for children and young people set in 16 acres of tranquil countryside.
Overall Contribution to Making Leeds a Child Friendly City
LandSec (White Rose and Trinity) have provided work opportunities for young people, celebrated achievement by sponsoring Award ceremonies, run Christmas parties for foster and kinship families, and have provided family friendly toilets as well as a fantastic outdoor play space.
Special Recognition for Outstanding Contribution to the Child Friendly Leeds Awards
This award is to recognise the outstanding contribution The City Varieties Learning Team have made to Child Friendly Leeds. They do an incredible job year on year and work with a new group of young people every year and help them plan, organise and deliver this event that has become one of the highlights of the year.