Nominations open for South Taranaki Youth to Work Awards

From left: Sponsor Fonterra, Ron Scott; 2016 Young Achiever 20-24yrs winner, Chris Udy and Mayor Ross Dunlop.

Nominations have opened for the 2017 South Taranaki Youth to Work Awards, a project of South Taranaki Mayor Ross Dunlop's Taskforce for Jobs.

Organiser, South Taranaki District Council's Community Development Advisor Ella Borrows, says this is the fifth year of the awards and nominations are encouraged from across the employment, education and training provider sectors.

"Nominating (or being nominated) is easy, and is a chance for our community, business and families to celebrate the positive things our young people are achieving and doing".
"We want to hear about people aged between 16-24 who are achieving their potential and beyond, in the workplace or training environment," Ms Borrows says.

"We also want to celebrate businesses, education and training providers who are providing a supportive environment and opportunities for our young people to thrive right here in South Taranaki".

There are five categories this year:
Employer Award; Education, Training and Work Experience Providers Award; Learning to Employment Award; Young Achievers Awards Aged 16-19 years; Aged 20-24 years.

For the second year, the trophies will be exquisite sculptured glass awards, created by award-winning Waverley artists Lisa and Jimi Walsh.

Mayor Dunlop's "Taskforce For Jobs" project is a celebration of young people and the employers and educators supporting them to achieve success.

Lisa's Walsh has enjoyed extraordinary success with her move to glass art , having already won two major art awards. Her piece Across the Lines, the retelling of a story about life during World War I, won the Australasian Ranamok Glass Prize. It was constructed with hundreds of coloured glass pegs.

The deadline for the award nominations is this Friday, September 15. The finals celebrations will be held at the TSB Hub on Wednesday, November 1, at 6pm.

Outward Bound will once again be offering 21 day scholarships to the winners of the Young Achievers, Learning to Employment and Te Pae Tawhiti Awards.