Child friendly Leeds awards – Five quick questions with one of last year’s organiser

Nominations for the child friendly Leeds awards have now closed after a whopping 549 nominations were made! We’d just like to say a big thank you to everybody who nominated the people, places and organisations making Leeds a great city to grow up in.

The child friendly Leeds awards ceremony, which will be held on 29 January 2015, is once again being organised by a planning committee of Leeds children and young people. Today we speak to Steven, a young person who was a member of 2014 awards planning committee, about what it was like to organise the event….

You were on the planning committee last year how did you get involved with the event, and why?

“I got involved in the planning committee through Rachel from Leeds Grand Theatre and City Varieties. She sent an email to my youth theatre asking if anyone would like to be involved in organising an awards ceremony. I decided I wanted to be involved because I thought it would be a great experience organising an event, and also because I wanted to help celebrate the many people helping to make Leeds a more child friendly city.”

How did you find the experience? Would you recommend it to other people?

“I found it so rewarding. It felt great watching it take shape and felt even better getting up there and giving people the opportunity to shine for their achievements. I would recommend it to anyone.”

How did it feel watching the awards ceremony knowing you had organised it?

“It felt pretty spectacular. It’s one thing to act in a show but it’s an entirely different feeling to know you’ve worked on something from the ground up.”

The awards recognise the achievements of children and young people, people looking after children and young people and the best places of children and young people. Why do you think this important?

“I think that this is important that people get the recognition for the work they do. I feel that a lot of the work that is done gets put to the side and overshadowed by other things done in the community.”

Nominations have now closed – have you got any messages for the shortlisted nominees?

“I’m so happy for you. You’ve done so much hard work and I feel that it’s time you got recognition for this. Thank you so much for all the work you do to make the children of Leeds happy and safe.

“To the guys organising it remember you are doing a fantastic job and raising awareness for a fantastic set of people. I’m sure that whatever you do will be spectacular. Good luck and I hope to see all your hard work come together on the night!”

Thanks a lot to Steven for sharing his experience of being on the planning committee with us and his views on the child friendly Leeds awards! If you’ve been inspired by what Steven has said, why not join in the conversation on Twitter #CFLawards, or leave a comment below…