Rotary Arun Youth Community Awards 2023 sees ​​record nominations for young people doing community work in the Arun district

Three Rotary clubs, Bognor Regis, Bognor Hotham and Littlehampton, have been jointly organising the awards since 2015 to celebrate young people in the community aged between 11 and 19.

Rotarians said the awards ceremony last Wednesday was an exciting night, bringing together young people from the Arun district to honour their good work in the community during the past year.

Sue Baldock, chair of the organising committee, said: "It is so important that we recognise the important work that our young people are undertaking in the community, without the general public knowing anything of it. Judging of the awards is carried out through the auspices of Arun Youth Council, as this event is fundamentally about young people.”

Anya Dickinson won the 11-13 years category after helping to provide breakfast for homeless people and those sleeping rough in Bognor Regis, working with her local church and at a local charity. Runners-up were William Hardy and Nyla Bulley.

Sasha Walby, winner of the 14-16 years category, was nominated for integrating Ukranian students into her year group at The Angmering School. The Ukranians had shadowed Sasha from when they first started at the school and she even sat a Russian GCSE to help her communicate with the refugees. Runners-up were Oliver Daw-Hunt and Tristan Armstrong.

Casey Gardner won the senior category for those aged 17 to 19 after becoming a role model at Arun Youth Projects in Littlehampton. Runners-up were Jaime Doherty and Zack Beech.

Casey has been attending the youth club for the past 11 years and it was explained she had originally needed support and friendship but had developed to become an important role model for the club.

She now devotes many hours to organising a programme of food and implementing it in the kitchen, teaching younger people culinary skills which will equip them well for the future. This programme has been so successful, it is being extended to all five youth club sessions in Littlehampton and Rustington.

The group category proved particularly difficult to judge, with some worthy nominations. In the end, The Regis School Wellbeing Prefects and St Philip Howard School Group shared the prize. Arun Youth Projects Young Leaders were highly commended.

The Regis School in Bognor Regis had set up a wellbeing hub and specialist training had been carried out to help young people lose the stigma of experiencing mental health problems, while St Philip Howard in Barnham had raised £5,500 for Papyrus UK with a sponsored walk in extreme wintry weather from Worthing Football Club to Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club, helping to highlight the work being done to prevent suicide among young people.

A record number of nominations was received this year and the theatre was full of youngsters, friends and families applauding their success. They were entertained by songs from five young performers throughout the presentations.

Bob Pavard, co-compère, said: "Since Rotary took over the running of this event in 2015, almost 500 youngsters have been recognised for actions that have benefited the community, and demonstrates that this country’s future is in safe hands.”