THE achievements of young people who have turned their lives around were recognised at an awards ceremony last night.

The North-East Prince’s Trust Celebrate Success Awards were held at the Newcastle Marriot Hotel, in Gateshead.

The awards, now in their sixth year, celebrate young people’s success in education, skills development, employment, enterprise and community.

Many of the youngsters come from disadvantaged backgrounds, have struggled at school, been in care, are long-term unemployed or have been in trouble with the law.

Six award winners were announced at the ceremony, including Educational Achiever of the Year, sponsored by The Northern Echo.

The award was won by Sunderland 16-year-old Terri- Leigh Remmer McManus.

The teenager joined The Prince’s Trust xl club at Hylton Red House School after she lost her mother and became a carer to her grandmother and little brother.

Not long afterwards, her grandmother died.

The xl club gave her somewhere to gain accreditation at her own pace and to rediscover her self-belief. She is now studying at Red House Academy after passing all her exams.

Terri-Leigh said: “When I heard my name called my legs almost gave way. I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. I’m really chuffed.”

Other winners included volunteer Kay Hawkridge-Smith, 68, from Peterlee, who won the Volunteer of the Year Award.

She has been supporting disadvantaged young people in County Durham for 28 years through The Prince’s Trust.

Sixteen teenagers who filmed a DVD to educate young people on the risks of playing on the beach won the Community Impact Award.

The group were all members of The Prince’s Trust xl club based at St Hild’s School, Hartlepool.

The Inspiring Leaders Award was won by Kirklevington Prison Outreach Project, Yarm.

The scheme involves serving prisoners working with young people to dispel the myth that prison is fun.

Award winners will go through to the national finals, to be held early next year.

‘There is always hope’

Peter Branson, acting North-East director for The Prince’s Trust explains the need for giving young people a helping hand.

"THE worrying truth is that, across our region, there are tens of thousands of young people who feel very uncertain about the future. A YouGov poll for The Prince’s Trust shows that ten per cent of young people think that life is not worth living.

Worse still is the fact that this number jumps to 17 per cent for those young people not in work or training.

Every week I meet young people who think that having their whole life ahead of them is a bad thing.

Youth unemployment in the North- East is costing the state more than £1.4m per day in Jobseeker’s Allowance.

Last month, 27,700 18 to 24-year-olds claimed Jobseeker’s Allowance in the region.

So what hope is there for a generation of young people whose future looked bleak even before the cold wind of recession began blowing through our cities and communities?

As unfashionable as it may appear, I believe that when it comes to young people, there is always hope.

My faith in our younger generations is unshakeable and more than anything, I worry that as times get tighter, there is every chance that we stop providing support for young people just as they need it more than ever.

The long-term costs of failing to give young people a helping hand at the time when many of them need it most must be counted in wasted human potential, as well as in monetary terms."