young pro-footballer in the making and a monster model-making young entrepreneur are amongst the recipients of this year’s prestigious Youth Buzz Awards in Manchester.
The annual awards see young people in Manchester recognised for their stand-out achievements that help make a positive difference to them, their communities, or their peers.
This year’s awards saw nominations made across ten different categories with winners decided by a judging panel of young people from Manchester Youth Council and Manchester’s MYPs – members of the UK Youth Parliament.
The names of the winners were revealed at a glittering city centre awards ceremony attended by all of the young finalists and their guests, as well as the Lord Mayor of Manchester Councillor Paul Andrews and Councillor Julie Edwards, Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People.
Winners included professional footballer in the making 16-year-old Hannah Stengert from Openshaw who won the Outstanding Achievement Award.
Hannah began her football career with Manchester City’s Under-8 Team and has steadily progressed through the ranks, now playing for Manchester City Under 19s, despite being only 16 years old. She has also played international matches against teams from Greece, Norway and Wales and has been selected to attend training camps with the Under 17 England team in preparation for the Euro’s later this year.
Outside of football Hannah also regularly volunteers at her mum’s cafe with the local group of older people who go along there and spends time in school as a Senior Prefect helping students who are struggling with their homework, as well as helping out at the school’s pre-loved uniform sales.
Other winners included 21-year-old Maame Addo from Moss Side who was recognised with the Making a Difference Award for the difference she makes to young people at Moss Side Powerhouse, where she has become a role model for others with her perseverance in everything she does.
The Young Entrepreneur Award went to John Millington-Young aged 17 from Wythenshawe who has set up ‘Monster Creations’ that sees him using his skills in Lego building and creating new things to make unique one-off monster creations that he sells locally to others.
Winner of the Youth Project of the Year Award was Wythenshawe Community Housing Group’s Youth Team. Together the team members have been involved in a wide range of projects in the Wythenshawe area to help improve the lives of people living in the local community. This has included a Keeping Women and Young Girls Safe Project, a Bike Safety initiative promoting responsible cycling, and a Fishing Project that uses fishing as a way to help teach wildlife conservation and environmental responsibility.
This year’s Youth Voice Project or Campaign of the Year went to the Proud Trust Youth Group who are all passionate LGBTQ+ advocates. After raising their concerns about issues such as discrimination, mental health challenges and the need for comprehensive legal protections, particularly for trans and non-binary people, they travelled with their youth workers to hand deliver letters in to 10 Downing Street, where they were invited in to meet with MP Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to discuss the issues they’d raised in their letters.
