The names of the people, places and organisations shortlisted for the 2016 Child Friendly Leeds awards have been announced and three South Leeds organisations are in the running for an award.
The winners will be officially announced at a prestigious awards ceremony, being organised by a team of young people, which will be held at the Leeds City Varieties on the 28 January.
There were an astounding number of nominations received for the third annual city-wide Child Friendly Leeds awards. This made selecting the shortlist an extremely difficult job for the awards judging panel. Six winners will be chosen from the 24 nominees on the shortlist.
Hunslet-based Leeds Play Network (LPN) have been nominated in the Overall Contribution category. LPN run a shop selling affordable materials for creative play to support parents and carers as well as offering advice and training courses.
The Hamara Supplementary School in Beeston has been nominated in the Supporting Schools category. The school runs every Saturday 10am-2pm. Trained and qualified teachers provide academic support with programs of study structured using the National Curriculum. Small class sizes and interactive teaching methods are used to engage and motivate pupils.
Skelton Grange Environment Centre in Stourton is nominated in the Best Place for children and young people category. The centre gives school parties the chance to interact with nature on their south Leeds reserve as well as running out of school activities and offering volunteering opportunities to adults.
Councillor Lucinda Yeadon, executive member for children and families said:
“We would like to thank everyone who took the time to nominate in these awards. We were amazed by the sheer number and quality of nominations received and touched by the commitment and hard work shown by all those nominated for an award.
“There are some fantastic people, places and organisations committed to making Leeds a better city for children and young people and it’s great that we are able to celebrate their work, through an event such as the child friendly Leeds awards.
“What a wonderful way to recognise just some of the work being done across the city to improve the lives of children and young people that goes some way towards making Leeds a child friendly city.”
Another South Leeds organisation, The Works Skatepark, is also involved as sponsor and with CEO Elliott Turnbull on the judging panel.
The prestigious awards ceremony is being organised by a group of eight young people who make up The CFL Crew. The ‘crew’ – some as young as twelve – are busy making the final preparations for the ceremony which will be watched by an audience of nearly 400 people including a number of city leaders , VIP and surprise celebrity guests.
The CFL Crew have planned every detail, from the design of the trophies and decorations, to selecting the young performers from Leeds who will entertain guests on the night. They are also responsible for hosting guests on the night.
Full details of the nominations can be found on the Child Friendly Leeds website: childfriendlyleeds.wordpress.com/awards
