07 April 2008
Young black and minority ethnic people in Caerphilly county borough recently showcased their diverse range of talents in their fourth annual awards ceremony.
The Black and Minority Ethnic Young Achievers Awards 2008 took place on Wednesday 19th March in a special celebration evening, which was held at Lewis School, Pengam.
The primary aim of these awards is to reward 11 to 25 year olds from varied cultural and racial backgrounds in the county borough for excellence in a variety of fields.
The winners and runners up for each category received prizes of £100 and £50 respectively, and were as follows:
Sporting Achievement (Male)
Winner - Wanderson Martinez
Runner Up - Marc Yohan Robinson
Sporting Achievement (Female)
Winner - Shelbie Datta
Runner up - Lisa Irving
Greatest Endeavour
Winner - Nicholas Mallnd
Runner up - Nidarsiya Uthaya Sooriyan
Artist of the Year
Winner - Amber Leigh Bryce
Runner up - Robyn Williams
Cultural Achievement
Winner - Inzaman Hussain
Runner up - Adnan Ahmed
Academic Achievement
Winner - Holly Phillips
Runner up - Ali Almusharrekh
Student of the Year
Winner - Kathryn Szymczak
Runner up - Amar Ali
Musician of the Year
Winner - Elizabeth Szymczak
Runner up - Serena Wilson
Contribution to the Community
Winner - Mandy So
Runner up - Miyah Daley
Volunteer of the Year
Winner - Rafael Carvalho
Runner up - Sidnei Guiselim
Howard Rees, CCBC's Community Safety Manager and representative of Safer Caerphilly Community Safety Partnership (which sponsored the "Contribution to the Community" award) said, "These awards are a fantastic way of showcasing the rich diversity of our county boroughs' multi cultural society, and the wonderful talents our young people have. Everyone should be extremely proud of their achievements."
Gwent Police sponsored this year's Black and Minority Ethnic Young Achievers Awards. Chief Superintendent Alun Thomas, said: "We are delighted to sponsor the awards ceremony, which was an excellent opportunity to highlight the achievements of local young people from diverse cultural backgrounds. We were also pleased to support the work of the Valleys Race Equality Council, who organised the event."
The event was organised by VALREC (Valleys Race Equality Council) in association with Caerphilly County Borough Multi Agency Forum (MAF) for Equality Against Harassment.
A spokesperson for VALREC said, "The 2008 Minority Ethnic Young Achievers Awards were designed, developed and delivered by young people. Matthew Chan, 2007's overall winner designed this year's awards, which had as co-presenter Sam Rawcliffe, representative of the BME Youth Forum and Caerphilly representative with the Children's commissioner. Thanks to the support of all the young people and their families, as well as the wider community, partner organisations and sponsors, the awards had more nominations than the previous editions, and the awards ceremony was a great success."
The forum comprises representatives from such bodies as VALREC, Caerphilly County Borough Council, Gwent Police, Caerphilly Teaching Local Health Board, Gwent Probation Service, Crown Prosecution Service, local colleges and Gwent Association of Voluntary Organisations (GAVO).
It is committed to stamping out racism and hate crime, by educating people and informing them of the issues surrounding racial discrimination and hate crime.
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