Mayor of Rochdale recognises youth achievements in annual celebration

Date published: 05 July 2019

Inspirational stories of youth achievement, outstanding bravery and pride were on display at Rochdale Town Hall on Tuesday 25 June 2019 for this year’s Mayor’s Youth Awards.

Individuals and groups were all honoured with their own unique stories as the ceremony celebrated all that is great about young people, recognising all the good work of Rochdale’s youth throughout the borough.

Organised by Rochdale Council’s youth service, with young people from Darnhill Youth Club, the event saw youngsters from the whole borough come together to celebrate the achievements of their peers.

36 nominations were received for the awards overall and all nominees were presented with certificates by Mayor of Rochdale, Councillor Billy Sheerin.

In total, eight Mayor’s Youth Awards were presented by Mayor Sheerin, who said: “The youth of the borough are shining bright, we are all very proud of them.

“I was humbled by the outstanding stories we heard, and it was a pleasure to recognise all the hard-working young people of our town at such an amazing ceremony."

 

 

The Yasin Khan Inspiration award, set up last year, went to 18-year-old college student Jade Kilduff, from Heywood.

Jade’s family foster for the council and she is an incredible support to her younger brother, Christian, who has brain damage, cerebral palsy and is severely sight impaired.

Determined to improve the lives of those with disabilities, Jade set up the group ‘Sign Along With Us’ in January 2019, a daily sign-of-the-day video page which has become an internet sensation, teaching Makaton which she uses to communicate with Christian.

Makaton signs are based on the gestures used in BSL, but it is used in conjunction with speech and in English grammatical word order. Over 100,000 children and adults use Makaton symbols and signs, either as their main method of communication, or as a way to support speech.

Jade also goes into charities, schools and youth groups, using songs as a fun way to learn signs, and volunteers with children with disabilities and does sponsored events for charities that help her brother.

She has also set up a petition to make it compulsory for schools to teach basic signing, such as Makaton, which closes at the end of July:

• petition.parliament.uk/petitions/239893

Rochdale Online has followed Jade’s and her brother’s journey with Makaton since January:

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/news-archives?type=News&searchtype=Phrase&Criteria=College+student+Jade+Kilduff

 

 

The Courage and Bravery Award went to Sami Faqir who saved his grandma from a house fire last year.

The Influencing Change Award went to the ‘We Care’ film group who worked at Matthew Moss Youth Club with M6 Theatre Company. The group created an inspirational film that hopes to prevent young children who are in care being bullied at school and to raise awareness of what being in care means.

 

 

The Rochdale Young Carers Group won the Positive Participation Award for their dedication and hard work to raise awareness on LGBT+, healthy relationships and exploring being a more supportive friend.

 

 

The Young Volunteer Award went to William, Chloe and Hashim for their volunteering work at Rochdale Soup Kitchen. Week in week out, despite the weather, they come and prepare and make cups of teas and coffee at the local soup kitchen and have developed a good understanding and relation of trust with the users.

 

 

This year’s event saw a new award in memory of Kenny Farrar, who worked tirelessly for his local community. The award went to Sohail Hussain who has been taking part in youth club projects for the last five years.

Sohail is always looking out for others and this year, he has helped remember the late Yasin Khan and Kenny Farrar by helping organise a charity fundraiser for them, raising over £500 for Children in Need.

More recently, Sohail lost his friend, Louis White, who died in a traffic collision in March and also attended these two sessions. Sohail began planning and organising memorial events so people can remember Louis for all the favourite things he enjoyed.

He was described as a brilliant role model and a true leader for young people.

 

 

Ellie Thelwell, 12, won the Resilience Award as she is a carer for her mum who is registered blind due to an accident when she was young. Without Ellie, the family would be more isolated as she is able to guide mum around unfamiliar places, meaning they can visit the park or have local days out in the school holidays with Ellie’s help.

Ellie attends Young Carers groups for respite for herself, to enable her to participate in activities that are age appropriate.  She is a friendly young person who has encouraged other young carers to be at ease.

Olivia Allan won the Raising Morale Award for her inspiring attitude whilst being treated for a serious condition over several months. She has inspired her relatives to raise almost £1,000 for Cancer Research.

Gail Hopper, director of children’s services, said: “The stories of achievement from these young people are so inspiring and uplifting. They should all be very proud of their achievements. They clearly have skills and qualities that will set them up for success in later life.

“I think these young people are a credit to themselves, their families, schools and the borough."