A teenager dedicated to improving the lives of youths in care, a community worker helping young people build skills and confidence and a former elite netballer inspiring kids to take up sports, are among the winners of the annual Betty Makin Youth Awards.
Hosted by the City of Sydney, the awards recognise young individuals and groups who have excelled in educational, vocational and community projects over the past year, as well as individuals or organisations dedicated to working with young people
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the awards, held last night at Redfern Town Hall, were an important recognition of the work, talent and initiatives of young people.
“The Betty Makin Awards were established in 1994 to honour the great Redfern community leader who devoted so much of her time and energy to helping young people,” the Lord Mayor said.
“Over the last 22 years, dozens of awards have been given to individuals and groups for their outstanding work and commitment.
“It’s important that we continue to recognise the valuable contribution young people make to the community, and we offer our congratulations to all of last night’s winners.”
Four young people were each awarded a $500 scholarship to help them achieve their goals under the categories: culturally aware, resilient, creative and community minded:
Culturally Aware – Lana Kavakura, 16, Waterloo
Lana has significantly contributed to the cultural life of her community and continually promotes the value of diversity. She is passionate about learning more about her own and other cultures. Lana is also a member of the Redfern Pacific Islander Dance Group – a group run by community members that teaches dance and culture.
Resilient – Daniel Green, 18, Minto
During the last year, Daniel has achieved great success while overcoming his own personal challenges. Daniel has been working with CREATE Foundation to better the lives of young people who share his experience of being a young person in care.
Daniel works with the Foundation’s Youth Advisory Group and provides feedback on young people’s experiences to policy-making bodies, with recommendations for improving the out-of-home-care sector for young people.
Creative – Miranda Samuels, 24, Newtown
Over the past five years, Miranda has worked closely with marginalised and at-risk young people in the community through art education.
Miranda has successfully created a number of dynamic community-based mentor programs that offer alternative art education to community members who are disengaged from education, homeless or have drug and alcohol dependency issues.
Community Minded – Celeste Carnegie, 22, Waterloo
A Juru Aboriginal/South Sea Islander woman from the Birrigubba Nation, Burdekin, Far North Queensland, Celeste moved to Sydney 18 months ago to complete a Diploma of Communications at UTS. A former elite netball player, Celeste works at both the National Aboriginal Sporting Chance Academy and the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence, providing in-class cultural support for school children in the local area.
Three new awards introduced by the City this year were also presented to recognise the hard work of people providing youth support and youth projects across Sydney:
Rookie of the Year – Lincoln Smith
Lincoln won the inaugural Rookie of the Year award for his outstanding engagement with young people sleeping rough in the City of Sydney’s local area.
Dedicated to helping young people realise their potential, Lincoln voluntarily took a step down from a senior position to take on a social worker role that allows him to foster stronger working relationships with community members, as he believes more work is required to make lasting change on the front line.
Hall of Fame Award – Shane Brown
Shane began his career in 1976 as the first outreach youth worker for South Sydney Youth Services (now Weave Youth and Community Services). Weave provides a range of services to more than 4,000 socially excluded young people, women, children and families in the city.
Shane is committed to improving people’s wellbeing and actively seeks to collaborate with other organisations to improve the sector.
Outstanding Partnership – Launchpad Youth Community, Erskineville
Launchpad develops business partnerships to help resolve complex issues facing young people. By bringing together 20 agencies and pooling their funding, Launchpad helps to prevent young people from becoming homeless.
Through the creation of shared-housing projects and engagement with real estate agencies, each year Launchpad helps hundreds of young homeless people across Sydney.
For more information go to cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au and search Betty Makin Youth Awards.
For media inquiries: City of Sydney Senior Publicist Elaine Kelly 0477 362 550 or ekelly@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
For interviews with Lord Mayor Clover Moore: Paul Mackay 0432 182 647 or email pmackay@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au