Since 2013, the Bristol Young Heroes Awards has celebrated young people in Bristol who have overcome adversity to achieve amazing things.

Every year the awards have become bigger and better, celebrating ever more young people who have gone above and beyond to do something positive for their community.

To mark the start of another year of awards, last Wednesday I joined organisers Community of Purpose alongside previous Young Heroes, sponsors and key supporters – including local actor Joe Sims – at City Hall.

Last year’s Environmental Hero was 15-year-old Catherine Rowe from Bedminster. Catherine told me about the support she received after getting her award and how since that night she has joined Bristol’s Youth Council and gained work experience at GKN Aerospace – an incredible achievement.

Catherine is just one of many of the inspirational young people who are working hard to contribute positively to their city. I am sure this year the awards will continue to showcase how important their success is for our city.

Wednesday’s event also saw the launch of nominations for 2020’s awards. For the next five weeks, the people of Bristol can nominate outstanding young people in their community for an award in one of eight categories. If you know a young person who has positively impacted their community and the people around them, don’t hesitate to put them forward for the recognition they deserve.

How to nominate a young hero

If you know a young person aged between 11 and 19 who you think deserves to be recognised, you can nominate them for one or more of the eight categories by filling out the nomination form here. The categories are:

• Action Hero: a young person who has made a contribution to the community by volunteering
• Arts & Culture Hero: a young person who has exceeded expectations and accomplished something brilliant in the arts
• Caring Hero: someone who looks after a relative and has sacrificed a lot by putting another’s needs above their own
• Enterprise Hero: a young person who has identified a need and found an enterprising approach to filling it
• Learning Hero: a young person who has exceeded academic expectations and achieved success in education
• Sporting Hero: a young person who exceeded expectations to triumph in sport
• Super Hero: someone who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to display an act of courage, or someone who has overcome adversity through illness or disability
• Team Hero: a new addition to the awards, which recognises the amazing work done by an organisation or group which supports Bristol’s young people

There’s also the coveted ‘Overall Hero’ award chosen from the eight category winners and the ‘High Sheriff’s Award’, given to someone that has shown dedication to serving young people.

The five-week nomination window is now open, and closes on Friday 13^th December. After that, a panel of judges will choose the winners. The awards ceremony takes place at We The Curious on Friday 1^st May.

All nominees are invited to the gala evening with two guests of their choice. To make the event feel even more special for these outstanding young people, local charity organisers Community of Purpose have arranged for them to each have a £100 spending budget for a glamorous outfit for the evening. Hair and make-up will be done for free by local businesses and the budget can also be put towards suit hire.

I feel lucky to be able to join not only our outstanding young people for these awards, but also the local sponsors and programmes that support nominees after the awards to help them reach their full potential.

For all the latest updates, follow Community of Purpose on Twitter,  Instagram and Facebook.