Scotland’s young superstars celebrated at the Sunday Mail Young Scot Awards 2022
Young people from across Scotland have been announced as the winners of the Sunday Mail Young Scot Awards 2022 for their outstanding contributions to the nation and their communities.
Hundreds of guests had turned up to the ceremony, with BBC Radio 1 DJ, Gemma Cairney hosting, alongside an appearance from radio DJs Amy Irons, Garry Spence, and Steven Mill, members of Scot Squad including Jordan Young, and Julie Wilson Nimmo, The Scotts Lee Greig, members of Balamory and Chewin the Fat, Actress Louise McCarthy, TikTok stars Steven McKell, Stephanie Vavron, and 2020 Finalist Kirsten Scott, Reporter Laura Boyd, from STV Entertainment and last but not least Olivia Topalian from BBC The Social.
This Years Winners are:
Young Scot of the Year, and Health & Wellbeing - sponsored by Scottish Water.
Fergus Crawley, 25, Edinburgh. A personal trainer has become a crusader for mental health. He decided to open up about his mental health after struggling with it for years, soon enough turning into a project to help young men open up too.
Volunteering
James Anderson, 18, Angus. He has worked with Enable Scotland - a charity which fights to amplify the voices of people with learning disabilities - for years, delivering disability and anti-bullying workshops to schools and youth organisations. His activism has taken him to Geneva, speaking to a United Nations conference.
ENHANCING EDUCATION - Sponsored by Skills Development Scotland
Sameeha Rehman, 22, North Lanarkshire. She started her own social enterprise, Ubuntu Scotland at the age of 21. The organisation is determined to put the power into the hands of young people.
ARTS
Fusion, 19 and 16, Renfrewshire and Edinburgh. Jordan Stewart and Amaranta Laing created Fusion to use their artistic talents to amplify the voices of young people in Scotland. Working with Children First, they are bringing a young person’s song to life to change and influence the justice system for victims and witnesses of crimes.
ENIVRONMENT – sponsored by First Bus
Mhairi McCann, 22, Inverclyde. Mhairi is the founder and CEO of Youth STEM 2030, and organisation with the vision to empower youth to use science, technology, engineering and maths to change the world. She has a strong belief in positive difference young people can make to our world. And for her work, she was named one of the UK’s Top 50 Women in Sustainability in 2020.
SPORT - Sponsored by sportsscotland
Hailey Duff, 25, Angus. Curling superstar Hailey was part of the British Women’s curling team which won Olympic Gold at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Team Muirhead claimed their prize by beating Japan 10-3, and despite it being her first time, Hailey and her team made history by taking the the first place title since 2002.
Neil and Andrew Simpson, 19 & 21, Aberdeenshire. Neil and Andrew Simpson delivered a stunning result at the 2022 Winter Paralympics - becoming the first British men in history to win gold on snow. Neil, who competed in the Super G vision impaired class, took to the slopes with his brother Andrew as his guide. They have achieved impressive results before. Winning gold in the slalom and bronze in the giant slalom at the 2018 Para Alpine World Cup. They also won Silver at the 2021 World Para Snow Sports Championships. Having skied since they were four years old, this gold medal is a testament to their years of hard work.
UNSUNG HERO - Sponsored by Solace Scotland
Denisha Killoh, 23, Glasgow. Denisha leads the Scottish Government funded National Childhood Bereavement Project delivered by includem. At just 14, Denisha's mum died of lung cancer, ever since she has worked to honour her mum’s legacy. As a LGBT+ woman of colour, Denisha has channeled her experiences of discrimination into roles that give underrepresented communities a voice. At the age of 19, she became one of the youngest ever chairs of a national review, as Stigma Co-Chair at the Independent Care Review.
COMMUNITY – sponsored by Scottish Government
STARR, Glasgow. They work tirelessly to improve the lives of children who are in or on the edges of secure care in Scotland. Found in March 2018, STARR is Scotland’s only curated space for secure care-experienced children, young people and adults.
EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY – sponsored by Arnold Clark
Whatever Next?, 21-26, Lothian. Three young people have started up a project to educate others on life as an adoptee. Addie, Hannah and Jo set up Whatever Next? - a multi-media platform that explores their experience as Chinese adoptees, and adoptees in general. Their work has won them the Creative Edinburgh Student Award in 2021.
ENTERTAINMENT
Paul Black, 25, Glasgow. He is a comedian who shot to success on TikTok with his witty videos, reaching 187,000 followers and more than 6m likes. He quickly became an internet sensation over the last 12 months with his viral videos, and continues to put a smile on everyone’s face.
ENTERPRISE
Lucy Fisher, 25, Aberdeenshire. Lucy has taken a childhood passion for knitting and turned it into a business , Knit it. Over the years , Grandma Marge had taught Lucy to knit, a skill that has been passed down for generations. Lucy realised the true value of preserving the art of knitting and sought to make it more accessible and understandable.
YOUNG HERO - Sponsored by XSite Braehead
Mirren Empson, 14, Kincardine. Mirren was on the bus that took her to school when she noticed something strange. Sitting at the back of the bus, Mirren began to smell smoke - and took immediate action, running to tell the bus driver. After alerting the bus driver, Mirren returned to her seat to find black smoke pouring out of the area that she had been sitting in. Luckily, thanks to her warning, the bus driver evacuated the bus just moments later - and all 15 children on board were able to exit safely. Because of her actions she was able to get everyone to safety.
“We’ve been completely inspired by the stories of our nominees, finalists and winners, who are all doing extraordinary things to improve the lives of others. We’ve kept the spirit of the Sunday Mail Young Scot Awards alive for the past two years by hosting fantastic virtual events, but it’s brilliant to have the awards back in all of their glory this year to celebrate Scotland’s young people, who do so much to inspire, support and motivate those around them.” Kirsten Urquhart, Chief Executive of Young Scot.
“It was an absolute honour to host this year’s Sunday Mail Young Scot Awards. I was inspired by listening to the winners’ stories and their commitment to helping others in their community is truly remarkable. Congratulations to our winners and finalists!” Award host, Gemma Cairney.
We’d like to extend a massive thank you to everyone who made the Sunday Mail Young Scot Awards such an amazing night for all of our winners and finalists, thank you;
Scottish Government
Sportscotland
Solace Scotland
Skills Development Scotland
Arnold Clark
First Scotland
Scottish Water
XSite Braehead
