Awards celebrate young achievers

MEMBERS of the Ballarat Youth Advisory Board have represented the city’s young people at the prestigious 7News Young Achiever Awards in Melbourne.

One of four finalists in the Spirit Super Connecting Communities Award for their facilitation of music festivals Spring in the Park, and Spring in the Park: Autumn Edition, the YAB was announced category runner-up.

For YAB member Tayla Payne, the night at The Sofitel Melbourne was a “thrilling” one, celebrating the work of their eight board members under the age of 25.

“We were proud to be recognised, having put two big festivals together in Ballarat which were seen across the State,” she said.

“They were very successful events, run by very young people who met once a month to share our ideas, plan, and seek sponsor support to fund them.”

Ms Payne, Katie Balharrie and Maddie Warren received YAB’s certificate on stage, and said it felt special to be amongst “amazing” Awards nominees in the room.

“When we listened to everyone else’s wonderful stories being shared, we felt like we fit in with them, and were meant to be there.

“The diversity in the room was brilliant, with people from different cultural backgrounds and communities,” Ms Payne said.

“We were all people under the age of 25, raising awareness of issues amongst young people, and working towards making our communities a better place to live.”

The YAB was also a semi-finalist in the Group Achievement in the Community Award category of the 7News Young Achiever Awards. The board is an initiative of Highlands LLEN.