St Basils young resident wins LGBT Youth Achievement award

A young person from St Basils has been formally recognised at the star studded Pride Ball Awards last Friday 23rd March for her work in the community by winning the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered)Youth Achievement Award.

Members of the public nominated young people online then each young person’s application was reviewed by a panel of judges, the criteria being ‘Individual progress’ and ‘Contribution to the community’.

The eventual winner, Callan Biggs who has recently been elected Chair of St Basils YAB has a long history of volunteering her time to help young people. Prior to her position on the Youth Advisory Board she was Resident Rep, a role which involves listening to young people’s concerns and liaising with staff to resolve them. She has also done extensive work with the Children’s Society, mentoring marginalised and vulnerable asylum seeking children.

The annual Pride Ball held at the ICC in Birmingham is the biggest event of its kind in the UK and is attended by around 1000 members of the LGBT community and this year had entertainment from the likes of Stacey Solomon, Sinita and Johnny Robinson. There are many different Award categories that Midlands Zone readers can vote on and this year a total of 17,000 votes were cast.

Maria Emerson-Smith from St Basils who sponsor the Award said: “St Basils is pleased to be a sponsor of the Youth Achievement Award which recognises the individual progress and community contribution that young people from LGBT communities make. This year, we had a record number of nominations and the judging panel had a difficult job. It was a fantastic night and we worked with Midlands Zone magazine to pull out all the stops to ensure young people were recognised and acknowledged for their achievements. I would like to thank the judges and congratulate all five young people who were shortlisted.”

Callan said: "Being an active part of the community and giving back is so important to me that to be recognised for this means so much. This is an achievement I feel truly proud of."