Youthlink Youth Worker of The Year Awards

by our SPEN Officer, Rona Saunders

With the Oscars, Grammys and the Brits all behind us there is one award ceremony left to look forward to… This Thursday night (14/3/12) will see much of the youth work sector in Scotland coming together to celebrate the commitment and hard work of young people and those who support them at the YouthLink Scotland Youth Worker of the Year Awards. Here at Fast Forward and the Scottish Peer Education Network (SPEN) we are delighted to sponsor the category of Peer Educator of the year which celebrates the commitment and passion young people give towards peer education.

There are so many amazing initiatives out there across the country and in my capacity as SPEN coordinator I have had the privilege to meet with many of them. Peer education is such a valuable way to volunteer and has many benefits such as increased knowledge, skills, attitudes, self esteem and confidence. It’s also a great way to meet new friends and work towards accreditation such as Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Saltire and Youth Achievement Awards.

Peer education projects across Scotland deliver sessions on a wide variety of topics but in common they all have committed, hard working young people who passionately share their skills for the benefit of others.

It will be exciting to see who out of the inspirational finalists will be crowned Peer Educator of the Year on Thursday night, you can read more about them here. Whilst there can only be one winner, here at SPEN we’d like to take the chance to celebrate with all peer educators out there and thank you for all your hard work and commitment to your projects.

Find out more about the awards at YouthLink or follow the #NYWYawards2013 hashtag on Twitter.