The online ceremony was hosted by BBC Radio Newcastle’s Anna Foster and the award categories included things such as Outstanding key Worker and Outstanding Woman of the year.

Two young girls, Kayla Ford and Grace McNulty from the Central Jarrow Detached Youth Project both received recognition for their hard work with Kaykla receiving a top 3 nomination and Grace winning the award for Inspiring Young Female.

Grace has been a long-standing, active member of the Partnership Board for Jarrow Big Local and a regular attendee at the youth project for several years now. She has grown in confidence and become the driving force behind so much good in her community.

From planning successful fundraising events to writing funding bids, the list of things Grace has accomplished is endless. One of Grace’s most impactful ideas was the Cemetery Project. Grace had often walked through the local cemetery and felt sad for the people buried in the “forgotten” or overgrown graves. Her idea was to show respect for the people buried in these less kept graves by cutting back weeds, thorns and cleaning up the stones. Once approval was granted by the Local Authority, Grace contacted the cemetery Facebook page and YMCA’s Youth and Play team arranged to meet the team of volunteers.

Visits to the cemetery have been taking place each Sunday morning for almost a year now and each week over 10 young people attend.