Deserving young people recognised

Deserving young people recognised at the 2015 Datacom Pride Awards Ceremony

On Sunday 18 October, the Pride Awards Trust, a non-profit organisation that recognises the successes and achievements of young people from the greater Wellington region, held the 2015 Datacom Pride Awards ceremony at Paramount Cinema. It was the Trust’s sixth year of running the annual awards ceremony which are becoming an annual institution in the region.

This year the categories for the awards and their winners were: Conservation and Environment: Simotu Judkins and McKenzie Smith, • Creative Achievement and Innovation:Te Awarangi Puna, Courage in Adversity: Leo Stairmand, Community First: Josie Sharman, Youth Leadership and Teamwork: Cassidy Faitele and Mareko Ennor, and Carers: Tessa Frickleton and Ethan Soal.

This year saw the introduction of the Most Inspiring Young Person of the Year award which went to Te Awarangi Puna for her talent in film-making, acting and and her role as an inspiration and role model for other young people. As the recipient of the award Te Awarangi received a $3,000 prize to assist her in pursuing her chosen field. The Pride Awards Trust Chairman Ken Daniels spoke of the difficulty of selecting the first recipient of the new award from such a wonderful group of inspiring young people but felt confident that the right young person had been chosen.

The young winners and invited guests received inspirational words on leadership and making a contribution to the community from Guy Ryan, winner of the Kiwibank Young New Zealander of the Year award 2015; Leader of the Labour Party, Andrew Little; Vanesa Dhiru from the 2020 Trust; Royal New Zealand Ballet Managing Director, Amanda Skoog; and Veronica Ayson (representing sponsor Tourism Brand Associate for KiwiRail & Interislander). Mark Muru, Director of Datacom Wellington, also gave an opening speech on behalf of Datacom, the premier sponsor of the 2015 ceremony.

When presenting the Youth Leadership and Teamwork awards Andrew Little praised the Pride Awards Trust for its leadership in recognising youth achievements. “One critical path [of leadership] is allowing others to step up, to develop, to flourish and to shine… The Pride Awards themselves are an act of leadership that we can ourselves be very proud of.”

Along with inspirational speeches and videos of the young winners, the crowd, including dignitaries such as Ambassadors; High Commissioners; Members of Parliament; Mayors; and Councillors from across the Wellington region, were entertained by local Wellington performers, including some very talented young people.

Barbershop quartet Fourth Inversion from St Partrick’s College (Kilbirnie) gave the crowd an excellent performance of two old favourites and the winners of the 2014 Pride Awards Creative Achievement and Innovation Awards also impressed the audience. Peyton Morete, 13, sang two of her own songs, while Salem Foxx, 15, performed a six part dance medley. There was also entertainment from New Zealand Latin Dance champions Erik Petrosyan and Margarita Taryan and a talented, youth choir from the Prime Music Academy.

To find out more about the ceremony, please visit www.prideawards.org.nz or www.facebook.com/ThePrideAwardsTrust.

ENDS

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