Media release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, 20 June 2018 

Inspiring young people celebrated at the 2018 Young Achievers Awards 

Upper Hutt Young Achievers, a platform to highlight Upper Hutt youth. 

UPPER HUTT, Wellington NZ, 20 JUN 2018—Young people of Upper Hutt were celebrated at the 12th Young Achievers Youth Civic Awards on Wednesday 6 June. The event, hosted at Expressions Whirinaki Arts and Entertainment Centre, was an opportunity to acknowledge the achievements and successes of young people in Upper Hutt.

Guests and finalists were entertained by local talented performers from, Heretaunga College, Upper Hutt College, Danzworx, 2facedrama (a not for profit organisation run by youth for youth to raise awareness of social issues), and Pale Lady (winners of the 2017 Battle of the Bands).

Youth from the Heretaunga College catering unit supplied food and front of house service for the awards and local youth from social enterprise Kickstart Coffee were also on hand to serve attendees.

This year, there were seven awards: Sports Award; Leadership Award; Expressions Whirinaki Arts Award; Capital Training Resilience Award; Youthtown Manaakitanga Award; Kaitiaki Environmental Award; and the Mayoral Award.

Winners and runners-up for 2018 are:

Sports Award

Winner: Ryan Scaife
Runner up: Katelyn Kennedy

Youthtown Manaakitanga Award

Winner: Samuel Fleming
Runner up: Darcy Walker

Leadership Award

Winner: Joshae Witana
Runner up: Ryan Hooper Smith

Kaitiaki Environmental Award

Winner: Euclid Papier
Runner up: Rochelle Browne

Expressions Whirinaki Arts Award

Winner: India Lawrence
Runner up: Malea Fiso

Mayoral Award

Winner: Emoni Falepapalangi

Capital Training Resilience Award

Winner: Renee Harris-Matoe
Runner up: Adam Ingham

Runners up received tickets to the 2018 Festival for the Future; a weekend conference which includes, inspiring speakers, future-focused panels, workshops and entertainment. Festival for the Future is aimed at developing the leadership skills and potential of New Zealand youth.

Winners of the 2018 Young Achievers Awards will meet with Council’s Community Development team and receive grants aimed at supporting their future development, skills and potential in their chosen field.

“It was great to be among such wonderful and inspiring young people,” says Upper Hutt Mayor, Wayne Guppy. “No matter what their background or where they’ve come from, this year’s finalists showed us that, through hard work and determination, you can achieve your goals. Sometimes in life we tend to hear the negative about young people and forget there are thousands of youth in our community doing wonderful things. Many times these people go unnoticed. The Young Achievers Awards give us a chance to hear the voices of young people, and see what remarkable talent and drive our local youth have.”

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