Young People in the region were celebrated on Tuesday 12 September at the MidCoast Youth Awards ceremony.
Held at the Manning Entertainment Centre, the ceremony was attended by more than 130 people which included award nominees, their guests and family members.
The awards were initially an initiative of Taree PCYC and MidCoast Council aiming to recognise the valuable contributions of young people aged 12 – 24 in the MidCoast local government area by celebrating the achievements of individuals in the award categories.
This was the third year of the MidCoast Youth Awards and the program has grown to include new partners LJ Hooker and Grow A Star Foundation.
In his speech at the ceremony, Council's General Manager Adrian Panuccio said young people's contribution to the community is invaluable.
"Quite often we hear people say that young people are important because they are our future leaders," he said.
"This is a phrase we don't like to use at Council. We believe that young people should be valued for the contribution they are already making to the community, not for their potential future contributions – and that's what the Youth Awards are all about."
The prizes were generously sponsored by each of the program partners, as well as Rotary International District 9660 and Friends of the Manning Regional Gallery.
There were 11 award winners across six award categories. Winners received a $250 EFTPOS voucher.
The winners were as follows;
Leadership 12-17 Lauren Oberg
Leadership 18-24 Jesse Linton
Arts 12-17 Maddison Laws
Arts 18-24 Cameron Waugh
Entrepreneurship 18-24 Samantha Tobin
Wellbeing and Resilience 12-17 Joshua Thompson
Wellbeing and Resilience 18-24 Malachi Walker
Community Services 12-17 Izaac Boag
Community Services 18-24 Miranda Yates
Sports 12-17 Lucy Pither
Sports 18-24 Courtney Webeck
A number of Highly Commended Awards were also presented including the following;
Leadership 12-17 Laine Wyllie
Arts 12-17 Bria Hooper
Community Services 18-24 Jess Kernahan
Sports 12-17 Izaac Boag
