Twenty-five young people from across England and Wales have been recognised at the latest awards by the charity Million Minutes’ to celebrate young people.
More than 100 young people, parents, teachers, youth workers and others gathered at the Terrace Pavilion at the House of Commons to celebrate the contributions young people have made to their communities.
Each of the six categories was intended to celebrate a different aspect of Catholic social teaching lived out in action.
Anita Motha, chief executive at Million Minutes, said: “We had the privilege to recognise and share the stories of young people from our schools and parishes. Their initiative and drive for creating change in their communities, whether through volunteering, fundraising, or advocacy work, is inspirational. Our future relies on young change makers and it fills us with hope and joy to celebrate their achievements and accompany them in their journeys.”
Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Vincent Nichols presented the Pope Francis award to St Peter’s Mini Vinnies, a brother and sister duo, Rebeca and Daniel, who during lockdown 2020 gathered items for their local food bank and even grew their own vegetables to ensure families had enough fresh vegetables as well as tinned food.
They drew cards, posters and wrote kind letters to the elderly who were suffering from loneliness.
The cardinal said he was “particularly impressed by the selflessness” shown in the two young people.
Christine Allen of Cafod presented the Barbara Ward Award (Caring for the Environment) to Tom and Harvey.
In a statement posted on Twitter after receiving the award, Tom said: “Harvey and I are just two if the thousands of young people across the world dedicating their time to tackling the environmental issues we are facing in today’s current climate. We are so lucky to have been given a platform to raise awareness, spread our true beliefs and most importantly to us, encourage other young people just like us to try their best to make a difference for future generations. We strongly believe we still have a chance to save our planet if we all work together, so all we are asking from you is to stop, think, smile and face this climate crisis with all you have”
The new award for 2022 was the Rutilio Grande and Companions Award, sponsored by the Jesuits in Britain.
Aleem Maqbool, Religion Editor for the BBC presented the award to two recipients, Fr Paul Wilkinson and Sr Margaret Walsh. Sr Silvana Dallanegra was highly commended.
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