Youth-led leading - it’s a new year’s honour

Many get recognised within civil society/the youth sector by local authorities, voluntary organisations, and sponsors by local and national awards initiatives, and many reading this will have made a nomination or perhaps been part of the judging process. However, few stories break through to get national media coverage, to challenge the negative stereotypes that still persist about young people. One exception are the Queens Birthday and New Year’s Honours where there has been a recent increase and frequency of young people being recognised through BEMs and MBEs.

I first noticed the current trend* of awarding BEMs to young change makers in 2013, when Anisa Hagdadi was awarded a BEM (aged 23) for founding Beatfreaks, an award-winning social enterprise engaging young people in arts, training and leadership opportunities. A year later, the chair of the British Youth Council, Rosina St James (aged 23) was awarded a BEM for her work on health and wellbeing for young people. Although young people in sports and arts has been recognised for their achievements, it was still rare for young campaigners or volunteers to be nominated or recognised.