Thursday 26^th March 2020 was due to be the annual celebration evening for the amazing “Tryangle Awards” in Worcestershire. The awards evening has been postponed until October, but we can now announce the outstanding award recipients.

The Tryangle Awards are the premier Worcestershire awards for celebrating inspirational young people, and this year was to be a special celebration as the awards are now in their 15^th year.

In 2005, Worcestershire County Council’s then Youth Officer, Dave Evans, suggested holding the awards in the county. He had seen the concept in his previous experience with Kent Youth Service, who are the only other county to run this award, and at a time when awards programmes for high achieving young people were quite common, the Tryangle Awards presented a refreshing new approach.

Dave was passionate about the fact that Tryangle awards were different and special. They recognised a different kind of achievement by young people who had overcome a wide range of challenges and barriers in their lives in order to develop themselves and support others – hence the “Try” in Tryangle. They were not about celebrating elite performers, but the many deserving young people known to those who worked and volunteered in a wide range of youth organisations, support agencies, schools, colleges and to people from local families and communities.

The County Council’s Youth Service launched the Tryangle Awards and ran the programme annually until 2010 when Young Solutions took over. The category to recognise adult volunteers who support young people was added in 2016.

Nominations continue to come from a wide range of organisations and individuals, and the recognition that young people and adult volunteers receive is highly valued by both the recipients and those who nominate them.

This year Young Solutions were really pleased to receive nominations across 7 categories for over 110 young people aged 11 to 24 and adult volunteers. After much deliberation, the most outstanding people in each category were selected by the nominations panel to receive a trophy and certificate at the awards evening, which will now be held in October at Worcester Bosch’s premises.

Young Solutions would like to thank all the people who have nominated a young person over the years and congratulate all the young people on their amazing achievements. Over 2500 young people and groups have now received recognition for their achievements in the county!

This year’s awards go to young people in the categories as follows:

Citizenship & Environment

• Ewan for “being a superstar and an exceptionally philanthropic teenager, dedicated to making his city a better place” in Worcester
• The Chantry School Community Leaders who “are an inspirational group who give up their own time to develop community links, do charity collections and are working on the ‘dementia-friendly village’ initiative” in Martley
• Ollie for “being persistently passionate, especially supporting the homeless, volunteering with elderly people and fundraising for charity” in Worcester

Bravery

• Natasha for “always having a smile, for volunteering and supporting others whilst managing medical and personal issues” in Worcester
• Lou for “being inspirational, brave and motivated, and educating peers and the community around LGBTQ+” in Malvern
• Chloe for “being a tremendous shining star of determination and effort despite numerous physical and medical issues” in Worcester

Arts and Music

• George, Oliver, Oli, Mollie, Charles and Ed for “being thoughtful, creative, considerate, hard-working, loyal and supportive of each other as well as an absolute credit to their school and wider community, through their performing and technical support” in Worcester
• Dan for “becoming an accomplished singer, drummer and actor and a role model for younger students, after overcoming a range of personal and educational issues” in Kidderminster
• Kobie for “doing a first class and professional job with lighting and sound in the school theatre, as well as supporting other local organisations” in Droitwich

Good Friends and Carers

• Worcestershire Young Carers Ambassadors Team for “generously giving their precious time to raise awareness of the impact of being a carer on their lives” across Worcestershire
• Markus for “being a true gentleman in the making through his caring side towards his elderly neighbours and his fundraising efforts for charity” in Worcester
• Worcestershire Young Carers Participation Group for “their planning and delivery of the young carers conference for 100 professionals” across Worcestershire

Sports

• Greta for “overcoming her anxiety and being a fantastic role model” in Worcester
• Ewan for “making the instructors proud by using sport to deal with a health condition and manage his emotions during a difficult time” in Droitwich
• James for “being a shining example of a sports man – driven, determined, successful and displaying altruism in bucket loads” in Worcester

Personal Development

• Ali for “his bravery and kindness, picking himself back up and never giving up” in Kidderminster
• Louie for “overcoming personal issues and actively improving his own outcomes” in Worcestershire
• Libby for “her resilience, bravery and grit during difficult personal times, caring for others and becoming an advocate for change” in Tenbury Wells

Adult Volunteers (for any adult working with young people)

• Debbie for “making a real and positive difference, and going the extra mile” in Kidderminster
• Pat for “being a remarkable woman and running many community activities including toddler group, school Community Leaders group, fetes and the ‘dementia-friendly village’ initiative” in Martley
• Volunteers at Dines Green for “going above and beyond and making community work happen” in Worcester

For more information about the awards and to see photos after the awards evening, see www.youngsolutions.org.uk/tryangle-awards.

The Awards are made possible due to kind donations from the sponsors – Worcester Bosch, Yamazaki Mazak, Harrison Clark Rickerbys, Platform Housing Group, The Margaret Westwood Memorial Trust, Indegu, Artwork Creative and Matchborough Pharmacy.