2017 Rotary Young Citizen Awards

I'm Ellie Crisell and I'm delighted to be here

in Manchester to celebrate the Rotary Young

This year is the 10th anniversary of the Awards to celebrate

the achievements of a very special group of young people.

I presented the awards when they first began back in 2007.

Since then, hundreds of young people have been recognised

Each year, Rotary Clubs across Britain and Ireland nominate

The eventual winners for 2017 are with us me on stage,

so let's find out more about this year's award winners.

Our first award goes to teenager Abbey Booker.

Abbey is in care but works tirelessly and selflessly to ensure

other children have the best experience that they can.

She spends her time volunteering, helping out with a number

of schemes, and tries to change the way adults deal with other

She was nominated for the award by the Rotary Clubs of Doncaster

I remember the first few years was a major struggle for me

emotionally, because I had so many different people and so many things

I knew I had my own opinions on things, but I was never

When I found the courage to speak out myself,

I now know that I can say this, so I'm going to let other children

Abbey is one in a million to be honest with you.

She's a great advocate for young people.

She very much helps shape the service the way the independent

For me, before I came into care, I didn't really have a childhood.

I basically raised my two young brothers.

I was, sort of, given all the family's dilemmas and problems,

I did things that a normal 13-year-old should do

instead of staying at home and cooking meals.

It was difficult, but at the same time, easy.

I don't think I will ever stop doing what I'm doing, never, ever stop.

For me, I'm going to take it further and make sure that every child

in care has a voice and every child is loving being in care.

Congratulations on your Young Citizen Award.

It's really, it's all a whirlwind really.

I never really expected to be here with these amazing people too.

But like I've always said, this award is never really for me.

It's on behalf of all the children that work alongside me,

the people that work with me as well.

And all the different organisations that I help.

What was it about your experience in care that made you want to reach

Well, I was never really listened to.

I know how frustrating it is and annoying when you know

you have something to say but you just can't say it,

because people sort of believe that you're not old enough

or you don't know how to say it or you don't

For me, I thought, I needed to stop and children needed to have that

courage and confidence to come forward themselves.

So I sort of became a voice for young people.

Obviously, it must be quite challenging being in care,

I'd imagine it's not the easiest situation for children.

You said you want to make it a happy experience for children.

How do you think you can achieve that practically?

By encouraging them to come alongside myself an the other

children I work with to some of the presentations

that we do, that show the fun and the work we do.

And just talking to kids and explaining my story and how it's

And just getting them engaged and involved in different activities

and showing them the positive side, instead of the negative

I'm sure you will go on to do more great work.

What generally happens on Tuesday evening is local kids coming to

learn how to cope. We use kids as young as seven to come in and get

them involved, not just being users of technology but creators of

technology. I'm 18 years old and I'm a legal research student. I'm the

director of the company. I have a passion for technology an eye enjoys

sharing that with the kids. I think it's a great opportunity to be able

to show them they cannot just use technology but learn how to build

things to control technology as well. These kids are very much my

generation. People on Facebook and Twitter who were just using you

Tube. But they're not, they understand somebody's build it and

they understand if they put a lot of work in and understand the

technology, they can build the next Facebook, Google, twitter and do

business online. I don't do it for the recognition. I never did it to

receive trophies or awards, it's just an added bonus. It's

encouraging for me to go on and do other things afterwards, a good

motivator. It's great to be able to get involved in something that the

kids enjoy it, enjoy doing, and to be able to share the passion of

technology I have with other people. Especially when the kids get the

opportunity to go and better things. How do you feel? I'm honoured to

receive the award. As I said of ET, I don't do it for the awards

recognition. It's nice to get the awards and great to be on stage so

many amazing young people. It's great. It's good for the kids, as

well. Good for the kids younger than me to see hardware compassion can

lead to great things. Why coding? That's a good question. I suppose

it's just because I think it's the future. Everyone has a phone in

their pocket, everyone has a laptop or an iPad and I think it's

important we don't just become users of the technology but builders and

creators of technology. I think it offers so many opportunities for

young people and I think they will have a great future if they can

understand not how to use about how to build them. Any future Bill

Gates' among your lot? I bet they pick it up quickly, quicker than I

would! It's incredible. Some kids come in and can code websites or

build apps but cannot tie their own shoelaces! You're coming in and

you're going, they might be the next Bill Gates, but they will still need

their mums and dads with them! It's the future, and you are part of it.

Congratulations. Well done. APPLAUSE Our next winner

is Mohamed Khalil. He was forced to flee the country

with his family when he was 10, having been shot during an attack

on his school. He watched his friends die and had

to play dead to survive. Having moved to England, Mohamed

started going to Leeds City Academy. He was nominated by

the Rotary Club of Leeds. Mohammed is a 16-year-old,

growing up in Leeds, getting ready for his GCSE

in foot technology. Nothing remarkable about that,

but how he got here, well, Mohammed was growing up in Syria,

when his school was attacked. He saw his friends being killed

and was himself shot in the leg. To survive, he pretended to be dead

until the attackers had gone. I cry when I sleep because I can

remember my friends. In my head, it's not

going from my head. Like, I close the room,

I sit in and I cry because every time I think about the bad things

that happened to me. Mohammed's family fled Syria

and eventually made a home in Leeds. His mum has had surgery

for cancer and his dad So Mohammed looks after them both

and helps support the family with money that he makes

from working in a restaurant. His teachers are astonished

at the progress Mohammed has made. In school, as at home,

he's made it his job to help others. His story is what makes him

want to change things. Seeing the war at such a young age,

he speaks about helping people that have been through that,

that aren't managing as well as him. Mohammed plans to dedicate

the the rest of his life Sometimes I feel like I don't need

a lot of money, I want to help, if I have money I want to give it

to other people. If you help children,

you feel like happy. Congratulations, how do

you feel to be here? You went through some

terrible things in Syria. How do you think they changed you as

a person and made you who you are? Made me more stronger and confident

and to help other people Now you work a lot here,

to look after your family. You've had some problems

with things here as well. My mum got sick, she had operation

of cancer and I was very worried for her because my mum is just

all the thing I have in my whole When she got sick,

I was like very worried. I went shopping for her to help her

more because I'm the big and I want to help her shopping,

bring my brother from the school So, a difficult time

for you and you work in a restaurant as well as keeping up

with your school work. Yeah, I was work in the restaurant

to help more to make more money to give to my dad and my family

to bring more stuff. So how does it feel now to be given

this award and for everybody to be saying well done,

we recognise how I feel like very excited

because people read my story I want to thank

everyone who is here. For the second year,

we're presenting the Rotary Young Citizen Wheelchair Sport Award,

sponsored by the British wheelchair The award goes to

15-year-old Kare Adenagan. Kare, who was born with diplegic

cerebral palsy, was inspired by the London 2012 Paralympics

to take up wheelchair racing. Four short years later, she brought

home three medals from Rio. She now juggles the life

of a full-time athlete Pushing hard in every training

session to be the best. But fast times on the track

aren't the only target Maths and French revision

are just as important I go school for about 8,

I go to school for about 8am, Then an hour at home

and onto the track. After the track session,

I have home work as well. It's busy, but I know it

will all be worth it in July. Kare was born with

cerebral palsy diplegia. She took up wheelchair racing

after watching London 2012. Four years later, she came home

from Rio with a silver and two bronze medals,

to the delight of fellow I was so proud and I just,

I almost cried, well I did cry. My family gathered in front

of the TV about half an hour before the race,

waiting to see her. Their support will be

important this year. This new chair has cost

her more than ?4,000. The World Para-athletics

Championships in London Expectations are high,

but so is the bevel of competition. I've been working quite hard

and been training hard. I just hope that I can get a podium

finish, despite GCSEs I just want to be there

in front of the home crowd. But Kare is determined

that she will inspire the next generation,

as she was inspired That was Kare Adenagan -

winner of the Rotary Young Citizen She can't be here today,

as she's at a family birthday party. Our next award goes

to 14-year-old Aidan Jackson. Aidan's raised over ?16,000

for charity in just two years. He was diagnosed with Asperger's

syndrome in 2011, so sometimes struggles with everyday situations,

making his fundraising efforts Aidan was nominated

by the Rotary Club of Widnes. Aidan and his mum Caroline

flick through a scrapbook of his fundraising exploits,

at their home in Widnes. He started on a small scale,

but the death in 2014 of his close friend Olivia Alice Walker,

at the age of just 15, I wanted to help out her family

as much as possible and when they wanted to set up

a charity, it was like the main, Last August, Aidan filled

a sports stadium with 10,500 Why is it so important

to you that you do this, Even if it's just one person,

that one person it's going to make And all this despite the problems

caused by his Asperger's. But when it comes to fundraising,

he's just a different person. As well as Asperger's,

Aidan has a condition which causes him to walk

on his toes. He may need surgery,

which would keep him in plaster for six weeks,

and in splits for a year. I have to just try and deal with it,

at my own pace, just Aidan's raised more

than ?16,000 in just two years. He'll find out next week if he does

need an operation or not. It's just brilliant

to receive this award. I mean, it's just showing that

there's not always just bad stories It's showing that there is a lot

of young people doing good things, showing that it's just brilliant

what people can do when they It's lovely to have good

news about young people. Tell us about Asperger's,

what difficulties have Mainly social and just trying

to get around really. As a child, I struggled with making

friends and trying to strike up conversations with people,

but during my fundraising, it's been a lot easier

to actually get to know people, giving people topics

to talk about and just What made you think one day,

you know what, I'm going Mainly to keep my friend

Olivia's memory alive and to help out other people,

making sure that what happened to her doesn't

happen to anyone else. Our next award winner

is 18-year-old Molly Comish, she was determined to act

after seeing so many homeless people living and sleeping

on the streets of Ireland. She was nominated by the Rotary Club

of Bray for her idea of giving packs of essential items to homeless

people in her hometown. I was walking around Dublin

in December of 2015, and I just saw the amount

of homeless people and I decided I'm 18 years old and I live

in County Wicklow Ireland. So, I thought maybe I could put

together a pack of things that we take for granted to keep us

clean, that homeless people might So I just decided to

put it in a rucksack There's everything from scarves

to gloves, to socks, to ear buds, to deodrant,

deoderant, toothpaste, pretty much everything we all take

for granted but need. Everyone's smiling and thanking me

when they receiving them... Hi guys, I'm going to leave

some stuff here for you. That's just an amazing

feeling in itself. People are just really

happy to receive them, It makes me really sad that people

do have to live that way. But I'm trying my best to help them,

make it a little bit easier. I never in my wildest dream thought

that I would have won it. It's such a simple idea,

but such a lovely thought. What gave you the idea to come up

with these dignity packs? I just saw so many homeless

people on the streets, I didn't tell my mum

or dad or no-one. Then they caught me

bringing in 30 wet wipes and they were like,

"What's going on? Stop putting tooth brushes

on the shopping list! What's the reaction from people

when you pass them over? It's a good feeling

when you put them out. We have our stage

one charity status. We want to expand nationwide

and maybe to the UK as well, We would love to get in contact

with charities and maybe other Rotary groups,

because they are You had some attention from people

like the Irish Health Minister. Are you surprised by how

much attention it's got? I thought it would be a little thing

that no-one would know about. To be up here now in front

of everybody is incredible. It started off as a small seed

and now it's a big tree. Our final Award goes

to sisters Amber They founded the mental health

charity, Invictus Trust, in 2011, after their 18-year-old brother

killed himself in a psychiatric They were nominated

by the Rotary Club of Truro, Our brother was a party animal,

life and soul of the party. He was just like

the greatest person. In 2010, Ben was just 18

when he took his own life in an adult psychiatric

unit in Cornwall. Within a few hours of losing Ben,

we were in disbelief. Ben shouldn't have been able

to take his own life His sisters wanted to keep

Ben's legacy alive. So they set up their own charity,

the Invictus Trust, as a way to support other teenagers

with mental health problems. After Ben had passed away,

not very long after, my mum sat down with us,

my sisters and my dad and just said that she felt really strongly

that we had to change the services, really didn't want to be

a family that became bitter, because we felt that Ben had

been let down. We needed to change

what was available for teenagers in Cornwall and what support

and services could be enhanced After three years of campaigning

for a mental health unit for young people in Cornwall,

it was recently announced that the NHS will be building

the first ever specialist unit It's been seven years now that we've

been running the charity, We finally have confirmation that

a unit will be built How do you feel to be

getting this award? We're overwhelmed at

receiving an award. We didn't think that this would get

recognised in this way. We're just really proud

of what Invictus has achieved. How do you feel, tell me,

about how your brother was let down by the existing services in Cornwall

at the time? I think as a family,

it was really devastating. Ben was 18, but only just,

and went into an adult unit. We felt that the care

didn't suit him. It didn't understand

him as a young person. But then increasingly

through our work, we realise had he been under 18,

he wouldn't have been seen in the county, as we have no mental

health beds for young people. That became what we

were lorying for, that there should be

a young person's unit. We have the news

that it will be built. This is a unit uniquely

18 to 25-year-olds, it Currently it's ?5 million put aside

to start the build next year. It's for under 18s, because there's

no under 18 provision What we're really lobbying

for is to go 13 to 25. Our view is that Ben didn't just

turn into an adult from going to bed at 17 and waking up at 18

the next day. Which of us do, you hit

the nail on the head. Do you think your brother

would be proud of the work Invictus is completely

in his memory. It's named after his tattoos

and we use the anchor logo. It's a brand, young people

would want to identify with. We go into a lot of schools

and do talks and challenge and break down the stigma,

make everybody aware that everyone has mental health it just depends

where you are on the spectrum With eare campaigning to make sure

this build is innovative and Cornish Thank you very much

for talking to us. And joining me now is the president

of Rotary International Eve Conway, who started

the Rotary Young Citizen Awards We still look as young

as we did then. What about the stories that

you've heard here today? That's why the awards

were started ten years ago, to show case positive

young role models like the people we have here today and overcome

negative stereotypes. Because then as now,

the headlines are so often dominated We know that the majority of young

people aren't like that. With Rotary, we have so many

projects, Young Citizen Awards, with our inspirational youngsters

today, youth leadership awards, young musician, we know that young

people are our futures. Eve Conway, thank

you for joining us. So congratulations to all

this year's winners, who were nominated by Rotary Clubs

across Britain and Ireland. I'm sure you'll agree we've met some

very impressive youngsters. We've been moved and I'm sure

we've all been inspired. Thank you very much

for joining us this year.