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Youth Matters Awards 2025
Nominations have now closed for Youth Matters Awards 2025
Across England and Wales, YMCAs of all shapes and sizes create lasting change in their communities. Whether it’s our dedicated staff, passionate volunteers, inspiring young people, or impactful projects – there’s so much to celebrate.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to nominate this year. Your submissions will be shared with our expert panel of judges who will determine our finalists. Those nominations will then move on to the public vote, scheduled to open in August.
Until then, watch this space for more information!
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Youth Matters Awards 2025
City Central at the HAC
We’ll be returning to our biggest and best venue yet to celebrate even more of our incredible young people, staff, volunteers and projects from YMCAs across England and Wales.
Address: City Central at the HAC, Chiswell St, London EC1Y 4TW
We can’t wait to reveal our awards host for 2025!
Last year we had the great privilege of welcoming Scarlett Moffatt to host our awards.
“…honestly, I just feel so inspired. I just feel like everybody here is making such a difference. I think sometimes we lose sight of what’s important, and people that are here are making a real, real difference and they deserve to be shouted about and celebrated.”
Keep your eyes peeled for exciting announcements about this year’s host, coming soon.
All nominations are reviewed by our expert judging panel, which includes industry leaders, sector partners and young people representing the diverse range of voices in the communities we serve.
Meet the 2025 Judging Panel:
- James Roberton – National Director, #BeeWell
- Vicky Browning – Interim CEO, UK Youth
- Helen Gray – Trust Director, Benefact Trust
- Barry Fletcher – CEO, Young 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
Nominations are now closed for 2025
Julie Etchingham, ITV News Presenter
“All the reasons that you’d want to support YMCA have been right here in this room tonight, the people that work with the YMCA are doing some of the hardest work in our society and some of the young people that are taking it on and who are also benefitting from it, couldn’t be better ambassadors.”
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Youth Matters Awards Sponsors
The generous support of our sponsors makes the YMCA’s Youth Matters Awards possible. Scroll through 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.
Table Sponsor
Harrison Carloss are a creative and digital agency with a passion for problem solving.
Table Sponsor
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.
Table Sponsor
Bates Wells is a law firm that specialises in charity and social enterprise, education, technology and media, and real estate.
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View our past winners
Established in 2009, these awards recognise the vital work YMCAs deliver day in and day out to create a brighter future for young people and communities across England and Wales. Each year it is an honour to commemorate and recognise the hard work and ingenuity of the individuals, teams and projects that have significantly impacted those YMCA serves for the better.
Twelve award categories have been created to represent the exceptional skills and achievements exhibited by young people over the past year and the incredible work delivered by more than 80 local YMCAs. Each award is judged by YMCA leaders, industry experts and young people.
Meet the brilliant winners from past awards.
- Young Campaigner of the Year – Siana Beard, YMCA Worcestershire
- Young Leader of the Year – Sade Walters, YMCA St Paul’s Group
- Young Worker of the Year – Rhea Jutla, YMCA YMCA St Paul’s Group
- Young Volunteer of the Year – Jessica Young, YMCA Cheshire
- Young Achiever of the Year – Luke Shotter, YMCA Thames Gateway Group
- Health & Wellbeing Project of the Year – YMCA@Kent Street, YMCA Humber
- Housing Project of the Year – Resident Engagement – Building Independent Living Skills, YMCA Sutton Coldfield
- Training & Education Project of the Year – The E-Learning Service, YMCA Norfolk
- Support & Advice Project of the Year – Mental Wealth, YMCA Milton Keynes
- Family & Youth Work Project of the Year – Umbrella, YMCA Norfolk
- LGBTQIA+ Youth Group, YMCA Neath
- YMCA of the Year – YMCA Norfolk
- Young Campaigner of the Year – Kyle Pearson, YMCA Derbyshire
- Young Leader of the Year – Beth Fox, YMCA Norfolk
- Young Worker of the Year – Conor Fenton, YMCA North Tyneside
- Young Volunteer of the Year – Mayzee Scullion, YMCA Heart of England
- Young Achiever of the Year – Craig Mckenna, YMCA Plymouth
- Health & Wellbeing Project of the Year – Doing Sport Differently, YMCA Lincolnshire
- Housing Project of the Year – The Community Housing Project, YMCA North Staffordshire
- Training & Education Project of the Year – Refugee Realities, YMCA Crewe
- Support & Advice Project of the Year – The SOS Bus, YMCA Norfolk
- Family & Youth Work Project of the Year – Family Respect Project, YMCA Trinity Group
- Diversity Award – Yippee & Yip4Youth disability clubs, YMCA East Surrey
- YMCA of the Year – YMCA Plymouth
- Young Campaigner of the Year – Amy-Beth McCarthy, YMCA Swansea
- Young Leader of the Year – Rebecca Davies, YMCA Swansea
- Young Worker of the Year – George King, YMCA Norfolk
- Young Achiever of the Year – Jamie Dial, YMCA Derbyshire
- Young Volunteer of the Year – Kate Clews, YMCA Lincolnshire
- Diversity Award – Our Inclusive Workplace’ campaign, YMCA Brighton
- Support & Advice Project of the Year – Onyx, One YMCA
- Family & Youth Work Project of the Year – Y’s Girls, YMCA Southend
- Training & Education Project of the Year – Southend YMCA Community School, YMCA Southend
- Health & Wellbeing Project of the Year – Khalsa Karate at YMCA Hawker, YMCA St Paul’s Group
- Housing Project of the Year – Housing First as a Basic Human Right, One YMCA
- Red Triangle – Bob Whitchurch, YMCA Exeter
- Lewis Sewell Memorial Award – Nissi-Kay Black, YMCA Northumberland
- Lewis Sewell Memorial Award – Adi Detemo, YMCA DownsLink Group
- YMCA of the Year – YMCA Derbyshire
- Young Achiever of the Year – Kayleigh Kopieczek, YMCA East Surrey
- Young Worker of the Year – Gergo Daroczi, YMCA Swansea
- Family Work Project of the Year – Families & Community Project, YMCA Norfolk
- Young Volunteer of the Year – Martin Bushaway, YMCA St. Paul’s Group
- Accommodation Project of the Year – MCISS, One YMCA
- Health & Wellbeing Project of the Year – WAVES, YMCA East Surrey
- Lewis Sewell Memorial Award – Megan Crutcher, YMCA Swansea
- Young Campaigner of the Year – Alex Taylor, YMCA Barnsley
- Training & Education Project of the Year – E-Learning, YMCA Norfolk
- Diversity Award – Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children, YMCA Trinity Group
- COVID Community Impact Award – Community Impact, YMCA Derbyshire
- COVID Community Hero Award – Phil Gray, YMCA Black Country Group
- Red Triangle Award – Kath Stokes, YMCA Burton
- Young Leader of the Year, award sponsored by NISYST – Stacey Brown, YMCA Swansea
- YMCA of the Year, sponsored by Charity Bank – YMCA Burton
Contact Us
For further information, please contact:
youthmatters@ymca.org.uk
02071869500