Youth Matters Awards

Richie Anderson

We were delighted to welcome TV and radio personality Richie Anderson as our awards host for 2025.

“It’s an honour to be here… Standing in this room now, with so many incredible people, celebrating so many incredible people and stories, for me, is really inspirational.”

All 2025 nominations were reviewed by our expert judging panel, which included industry leaders, sector partners and young people representing the diverse range of voices in the communities we serve. 

Thanks to our 2025 judging panel: 

• James Roberton – National Director, #BeeWell 
• Vicky Browning – Interim CEO, UK Youth 
• Helen Gray – Trust Director, Benefact Trust 
• Barry Fletcher – CEO, Youth Futures Foundation 
• Dan Lewes – Co-CEO, My Life My Say 
• Rose Vestey – Vestey Holdings  
• Peter McCorkell – Partner, Sidley Austin 
• Dr Catharine Skinner – Head of Customer Insight, Cadent Gas
• Martin Bushaway – YMCA Youth Ambassador 

Meet the Youth Matters Awards 2025 finalists and award recipients 

Read more about the outstanding finalists and award recipients, selected by a judging panel and more than 16,000 public votes. 

These incredible young people, staff, volunteers and projects across England and Wales make a positive difference in their communities every day. 

The generous support of our sponsors makes the YMCA’s Youth Matters Awards possible. Take a look at this year’s sponsors and learn how their work supports us in delivering the best night in YMCA’s calendar.

Join us in celebrating the remarkable achievements of young people and the lives changed through innovative projects run by YMCAs across England and Wales while giving your colleagues and clients an inspiring and feel-good evening at this extraordinary event.

Contact corporate@ymca.org.uk to discover how you can get involved with our annual Youth Matters Awards.

1^st Waste Management have been with YMCA for 14 years, we provide waste management services to all of the retail sector and are big supporters and regular sponsors of YMCA.

Acopia are committed to developing trusted partnerships based on delivering value for the 250 charities. We currently support by bringing clarity of spend, process, efficiencies and more control over Back of House consumables.

Bates Wells is a purpose driven, full-service law firm with the largest dedicated charity team in the UK. With a long history of working with YMCAs, we understand the challenges you face. 

Cadent is the UK’s largest gas distribution network, bringing gas to 11 million homes and businesses. We manage a network of more than 82,000 miles of pipes, most of them underground, which transport gas through the North West, West Midlands, East Midlands and East of England and North London.

Grosvenor are the UK’s largest privately owned fleet management and contract hire provider in the UK. For 44 years we have partnered with corporate businesses, public sector bodies and various charities.

Harrison Carloss are a creative and digital agency with a passion for problem solving.

Nisyst is a leading UK provider of innovative EPoS and retail management solutions, with nearly 20 years’ experience supporting the charity sector with its Chariot EPoS solutions.

Sidley is an elite global law firm. With approximately 2,300 lawyers and nearly 160 years of experience, we have established a reputation for deploying innovative legal strategies to achieve powerful results for our clients in complex transactional, restructuring, crisis management, investigation, regulatory, and litigation matters.

Think-Inks is a UK-based company dedicated to reducing environmental waste and raising funds for individuals and organisations by recycling inkjet cartridges. We promote sustainability through a free and efficient collection service.

triSaaS specialise in providing integrated software and consulting services tailored to the needs of modern businesses. 

Vestey Holdings, a fourth generation family food business with a global presence, is committed to helping future generations reach their full potential.