Outstanding Young People Celebrated By Cardinal Nichols And Catholic Community At Londons’ Barbican Centre

Outstanding social action by young people was recognised at the second Celebrating Young People Awards.

On Tuesday 19 July 2016 hundreds of young people, youth workers and teachers, family and friends gathered at the Barbican Centre to celebrate the inspirational lives of so many young people, nominated by you. 

The 2016 Celebrating Young People Awards, hosted by Baroness Hollins and Rt Hon Ruth Kelly and with guest of honour Cardinal Nichols, highlighted some of the amazing young people across England and Wales who are transforming lives in their local communities. From the young family carer upholding human dignity, to the young man campaigning to improve the living standards of those living with disabilities, all the young people we met are living out the social teaching of the Church. Their commitment and drive is infectious, mixed with real humility. 

Cardinal Nichols chose and presented the Pope Francis Award from the hundreds of nominees. Congratulations to Matthew Martin, a sixth form student from Bolton, Greater Manchester. For the past two years, Matthew has been helping people who are homeless in Bolton, Greater Manchester. From November to April he gives up every Saturday night, from 7 pm – 1 am, preparing and serving food to between 50 and 70 people aged between 16 and 90. 

Danny Curtin from Million Minutes, said: “Through these awards we are celebrating all the inspirational young in our Catholic communities. Too often young people are overlooked, or even blamed for societies’ problems. What we want to say through the example of the young people we are celebrating tonight is that young people can be the difference in this world, and sometimes the rest of us just have to take time to stop to realise this.”

Baroness Hollins said, “We need to take time to celebrate young people, to celebrate all of you gathered here tonight and the hundreds more who have been nominated. We are celebrating all of you. Thank you for your commitment to build a more just and peaceful world – a world where everyone can flourish.”

Rt Hon Ruth Kelly, Pro Vice-Chancellor of St Mary’s University, said: ““I’m so delighted that St Mary’s is involved in these awards and partnering with Million Minutes. It reflects our commitment to the Catholic community and to helping to transform young lives”.

You can read about and be inspired by all award recipients here and photos from the night are on our Flickr page.

We’re looking forward to continuing the journey with all the award recipients. In October we’ll meet together for a weekend to learn from and inspire one another. 

The 2017 Awards are planned for November – we’ll announce them here soon.

Pope Francis Award Recipient returns from life changing trip

Last year, 1 July, saw the inaugural Celebrating Young People Awards in London's Leicester Square, organised by Catholic Charity Million Minutes. The awards recognise and celebrate young people living out the principles of Catholic social teaching, from the young family carer upholding human dignity, to the teenager promoting peace by leading the campaign to eliminate bullying in his school.

On that night, Cardinal Vincent Nichols gave the Pope Francis Award to Ryan O'Neill a psychiatric nursing student from Merthyr Tydfil who, in his free time works tirelessly supporting and inspiring young people. As part of his award, Ryan has just completed a tailor-made study trip to Argentina to trace the footsteps of Pope Francis.

Here Chris Knowles, Trustee of Million Minutes, who accompanied Ryan, writes of the trip:

On 1 July 2016 we found ourselves in a suburb of Buenos Aires, staying in a building called the ‘minimo’. This building, in years gone by was surrounded by a farm set up by Padre Bergoglio, it sat in the grounds of the Maximo College, the Jesuit theology and philosophy college that Bergoglio lived in as Provincial, and the community (and seminary) that he subsequently rector of. It was a exactly a year before that we were say in a theatre in Leicester Square and Ryan O’Neill received the Pope Francis award from Cardinal Nichols for efforts supporting young people on the margins in South Wales as part of the 2015 Million Minutes Celebrating Young People Awards.

The study trip, supported by the International Young Leaders Network, was an opportunity to walk in the footsteps of Pope Francis, to learn about context from which he came, and to see how the Church in Argentina tried to live out its responsibility to the most vulnerable in society.

While staying in the Jesuit community in San Miguel we visited the poor neighbourhoods in which Pope Francis worked, the local areas in which he was instrumental in the in the efforts to reach out and set up new chapels and parishes. We were welcomed into these communities with such generosity, while there were often language barriers, their openness and affection towards us was unmistakable. As we got further into these neighbourhoods it was clear that, the further you got from the main road, the more deprived it got. The buildings were more basic, and fewer of the roads were tarmacked. For Ryan, “visiting the poorer parts of Argentina is heart-breaking, but at the same time visiting their houses and experiencing their attitudes, seeing how open they are to helping others was very moving”. After sending out seminarians on pastoral duties, Bergloglio used to check the bottom of their shoes for dust and dirt. Having spent some time in these communities, it’s clear that this was a good way to know that you’d reached those families that needed the support of the Church the most…!

On the 2nd of July we were privileged enough to be invited to a mass in one of the poor neighbourhoods near the Jesuit college as they celebrating the lives of two Assumptionist seminarians who were 'disappeared' during Argentina's last dictatorship. Raúl Rodríguez and Carlos Antonio de Piero were taken in the middle of the night 40 years ago by men in army uniform, and their bodies have never been found. They were studying at the Maximo College where Fr Juan Carlos Scannone SJ, a friend of Pope Francis and a theologian quoted in Laudato Si’ taught them theology. Fr Scannone celebrated the mass with an Assumptionist priest who lived with the two seminarians, and only survived that night because he went home to spend a night at his parents’ house.

We also got the time to learn about the reality of the social problems in the big city from the cold face in a Jesuit homeless shelter in the centre of Buenos Aires. Over the last 10 years demand has grown and grown for the simple services they provide. Even only a very short period of time we were able to build relationships with those that came to the centre because we ate together, prayed together, learnt together and even celebrated Argentinian independence together with a Mass and a fantastic fiesta! Often they felt so welcomed at this centre because, unlike other projects in Buenos Aires, they were treated with the dignity and love.

After receiving nominations for over 250 young people, Million Minutes, in partnership with St Mary’s university Twickenham are now preparing for this year’s Award Ceremony on Tuesday 9 July at London’s Barbican Centre. 

Celebrating Young People Awards: Shortlist 2016

The Celebrating Young People Awards honour the achievements of truly remarkable young people who make our communities and our world a better place. Their achievements are an inspiration for us all, showing us all how ordinary young people can do the most extraordinary things.

 Nearly 250 young people were nominated for awards in six categories, celebrating how they put Catholic social teaching into action. We're received inspiring nominations telling us stories of  young family carers, dedicated volunteersand passionate campaigners, to name just a few. With nominations drawn from schools, parishes, organisations and individuals  throughout England and Wales our judging panels, made up of celebrated figures, had a difficult task. But the six separate panels have now  chosen their shortlists - see below - and the young award recipients will be announced at a glittering ceremony this Summer. (The CYMFed Youth Leader Award and the Pope Francis Award do not have a shortlist. The recipients will be announced at the ceremony). 

Cardinal Hume Award: Living out the option for the poor
Tom Morris & Emily Tierney:  Kenelm Youth Trust, Birmingham
Sixth Form Homelessness Campaign Group: St Wilfrid's Catholic School, Crawley
Justice and Peace Group: Notre Dame RC Girls' School, London
Year 12 General Religious Studies Group: St Anselm's College, Liverpool
Matthew Martin: Holy Cross College, Bury
Caitlin Nunez: St Angela's Ursuline School, London

Joseph Cardijn Award: Protecting the Dignity of workers
Marc Besford: Ushaw College, Durham
Martins Banjo: St Francis Xavier Sixth Form College, London
Kirsty Anne Watson: Drayton
Alice Stella: South London
Corey Scott: Blackburn College and HCPT
Daniel Fazackerley: St John Rigby College, Wigan

Barbara Ward Award: Caring for the Environment
Owen Bond: Thornleigh Salesian College, Bolton
St James Climate Bloggers: St James Catholic High School, London
Angelique Carlin and Emily Pranarauskait: St Angela's Ursuline School, London
Sam Abraham: All Saints Catholic High School, Sheffield
Anthony Adusei Poku: St Bonaventure's, London
SPH EcoTeam: The St Philip Howard Catholic High School, Bognor Regis

Dorothy Day Award: Fostering community and participation 
Charlie O'Sullivian: St Joseph's College and HCPT Group 721, London
Charlotte Walmsley: Holy Cross Catholic High School, Chorley
Reena Joseph: St Wilfrid's Catholic School, Crawley
Megan Auld: Loreto Sixth Form College, Manchester
Anna Joy Marshall: St. Hugh's Parish and NJPN, Chesterfield
Flavia Sofia Bernardo Matos: St Francis Xavier Sixth Form College

Jimmy Mizen Award: Promoting solidarity and peace
RHUL Inter-faith group: Chaplaincy, Royal Holloway University of London
Emma Atherton: Pax Christi, Liverpool
John Ruggerio: Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College, Worcester
Adelaide Laureta and Canice Marcel: St Angela's Ursuline School, London
Newman Catholic College London Citizens: Newman Catholic College, London
Douay Martyrs Chaplaincy Team: The Douay Martyrs School, London

St Josephine Bakhita Award: Celebrating human dignity
Abbie Walker: Sacred Heart Catholic College, Liverpool
Angeline Umba: Holy Cross College, Bury
Madeleine Kennedy: L'Arche Manchester
Christopher Austria: St Bonaventure's, London
Nicola Mattocks: New Addington Church, London
Helen Olorunsuyi: St Angela's Ursuline School, London