Community Youth Services

Following the success of the Sheffield Youth Voice Awards in 2023, we are now expanding our reach for 2024, to present the Sheffield Youth Awards. We want to recognise and celebrate the achievements and successes of all young residents throughout the city.

Why we are running these awards:

Sheffield City Council believe young residents deserve to be thanked, recognised, and celebrated. We also recognise the huge part that members of the community and organisations play in supporting young people too.

We want to hear from you, so that together we can shine a light on the young residents within our communities who have been going above and beyond. We believe young residents deserve to be thanked, recognised, and celebrated!

Who can be nominated:

Anyone can make a nomination, but nominees must reside, be educated or work in the city of Sheffield. They must be between the ages of 11 and 19 years old (up to 25 years for young residents with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)).

We also have three award categories for individual adults, organisations or services who support the young residents of Sheffield. 

The award categories:

Living in Sheffield means different things to different people, but we share a lot in common. The Sheffield City Goals are a collaborative set of ambitions, that point towards six stories we want to be able to tell in 2035 that make us proud to be the jewel of the north. Based on this we have aligned this year’s Youth Awards to the six goals. You can find out more about the Sheffield City Goals by visiting: www.sheffieldcitygoals.uk  

Goal 1: A creative and entrepreneurial Sheffield 

• Creative Arts Award – A young resident or group who have demonstrated a strong commitment to the arts. Utilising their skills to convey a message to a wider audience
• Young Entrepreneurial Award – A young resident or group who have shown drive, creativity and resilience in seizing opportunities and turning ideas into business and/ or community ventures. 

Goal 2: A green and resilient Sheffield 

• Climate Change and Nature Award – A young resident or group that have taken part in a project or championed the cause locally, nationally, or globally.
• Mental Health and Wellbeing Award – A young resident or group who have gone above and beyond to support the mental health and wellbeing of themselves and/or others.

Goal 3: A Sheffield of thriving communities 

• Community Champion Award - A young resident or group that has made a difference to the lives of others within their local community through activities such as volunteering or social action. 
• Accessibility and Visibility Award – A young resident or group who have championed high quality, diverse and vibrant public spaces that are accessible to people of all ages and abilities. 

Goal 4: A Connected Sheffield 

• Health and Lifestyle Award – A young resident or group who have gone above and beyond to support the physical health of themselves and/or others and promoted getting active and healthy lifestyles. 
• Connectivity Award – An individual or group who has developed networks or represented themselves and others outside their local area to help support themselves and/ or others across the City. 

Goal 5: A caring and safe Sheffield 

• Educating and Influencing Award – A young resident or group that has helped develop a project, raised awareness, and made a positive impact with their peers and/or other young residents.
• Equality and Diversity Champion Award – A young resident or group that has been actively involved in a project around equality and diversity. Having an impact on themselves and/or others. 

Goal 6: A Sheffield for all generations 

• Culture and Heritage Award – A young resident or group who have been actively involved in nurturing culture and heritage 
• Intergenerational Award – A young resident or group that have contributed to the development of intergenerational activities to help enrich the lives of themselves and others. 

Other awards:

We acknowledge the part that other members of the community and organisations play in supporting young residents. With these categories we would like to recognise this:

• The Sue Atkins Rising Star In Youth Work Award - An individual aged 17yrs and over who is passionate about youth work and demonstrates their exceptional contribution to their community in a youth work / young leader role. (Nomination must be supported by 2 partner organisations, one of which must be community based and one young resident reference)
• Young Residents Champion Award – An individual, organisation or service that has worked to deliver safe, ambitious and creative spaces and/or opportunities for the young residents of Sheffield. 
• Young Residents Voice Champion Award– An individual, organisation or service who has advocated for, promoted and supported young residents voice and rights. 

Deadline for submitting nominations:

Nominations must be submitted by no later than 5pm Friday 4^th October 2024 , nominations submitted after this time will not be included for shortlisting. 

Information sessions:

To support people with their nominations we are going to be running two virtual information sessions on Microsoft Teams on Monday 19^th August 4 – 4:30pm and Tuesday 17^th September 12:30 – 1pm. If you would like to attend one of these sessions please email youth.voice@sheffield.gov.uk 

Next Steps:

Judging for the awards will be done by an independent panel and will take place between 7^th and 11^th October. 

Shortlisted nominees will be contacted week commencing 14^th October and invited to the official award ceremony taking place on the evening of Monday 4^th November. 

If you are nominating on behalf of an organisation that works with young residents, and you would like a stall at our event please contact youth.voice@sheffield.gov.uk

Further questions/ queries:

If you have any questions or queries in regard to making a nomination or anything to do with the awards please email youth.services@sheffield.gov.uk and mark the email for attention of the Youth Awards Team.

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