Waipa District Youth Awards Announced

Story By Waipa District Council

Entry forms for the inaugural Waipa District Youth Awards have just been released and are now available. The Youth Awards are the brainchild of the Waipa Youth Council and cover five main categories; sport, cultural, academic, leadership & community, plus a Multi Achiever Award for success in two or more categories. Young people in the Waipa District aged between 13 & 19 years from 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003 are eligible provided they have resided in the Waipa District for at least six months of that year.

Waipa District Council Mayor Alan Livingston believes the Awards are long overdue.

“We have a huge wealth of talent in the young people in our district, sometimes we forget to remind ourselves how successful they are. We have young adults excelling across the district, across the country, and on scholarships around the world – in arts, culture, study and sports. We have Olympic champions, graduates in science and the arts - all of whom have been raised and educated in the District and we can be proud to call them our own. Now we can formally recognise the young achievers in our district with a series of awards that recognise their commitment and their achievement and we hope the awards will provide encouragement for development and achievement by other young adults.”

Entry forms are being posted to all schools and key community groups and an Awards evening is planned for August 8th in the Cambridge Town Hall. Winners will receive a certificate and sponsor prizes. Awards evening organiser Julie Dillon is busy making preparations for the evening.

“We would really like to give them an evening that’s about them, not about what we want for them, so we’ll be making it their night. We’ll have some entertainment by some of our talented youth, a compare who’s more their age than mine, and a red-carpet night out - it’ll be their night to celebrate”

The Awards function will be by invitation and will be alcohol and smokefree. The Council is seeking sponsors for each of the categories who will provide the certificates and a prize package for the winner.

If you would like to sponsor a category or know of a worthy candidate please contact Julie Dillon in the Te Awamutu office for a nomination form — and spread the word, this is a great chance to support and acknowledge our young achievers!

Nominations close Friday 20th June 2003.

Waipa District Council website: www.waipadc.govt.nz