Ryan Harston from Rotherham was the winner of the Arts Young Achievers Award for 2008 and this is what he's been up to since winning the award.... “I’ve  been extremely busy as always, working on exciting projects for my local community and schools. A programme that I set up to run in Doncaster Schools called "Urban Experience" has just won a national award for "Innovative Project of the year" and I am currently in the process of working towards the final touches to "Battle of the Bounce 2008" – A Street and Breakdance competition, which has been running for 4 years now. I'm also  going to New York in March 2009 to work with Full Circle Productions who saw me dancing and offered me a chance to work with their company which is a great opportunity.”

Francis Johnson-Beke was shortlisted for the Sports Young Achievers Award this year for his work with a football team made up from players in the Foyer where he used to live. This is his update of life since the Awards. “It was encouraging to get shortlisted to the final three of the Young Achievers earlier this year. As a result I was introduced to a mentor from the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) who has helped me with the football project that I am running, putting me in contact with people who are doing similar work and can help me to raise the standard that I offer with my football coaching. I am now studying a degree course in Youth Work and Ministry which takes up a lot of my time but I’m still running the football team which is going well and we were promoted to a higher league this year!”

Nineteen year old Matthew Hollis from Peterborough was shortlisted for the Arts Young Achievers Award last year. Since March he hasn't stopped his great work in the community and has been working with young people through the Youth Offending Service, teaching DJ and MC skills as a route in to positive activities. This summer Matthew was successful in his application for an UnLtd Sport Relief Award of £2000 to run DJ workshops in a number of locations around Peterborough as a way to bring different members of the community together. Matt had this to say about his experience “Since being shortlisted in the Young Achievers in March the publicity and increased awareness have made me extremely busy. Without getting where I did in the awards I don't think my project would be on the scale it is now and I don't think I would have the confidence in myself and the project.” 

Omar Hassanali from Croydon was 19 this year when he was shortlisted for the Young Achievers Community Award because of his development of Muslim Student Voice a group for young people that encouraged inter-faith dialogue. “Being shortlisted for the YAT Award was a great honour for me and everything has been such a blur since! Before I left the college where I was running the Muslim Student Voice group I was awarded the Cultural Awareness Month Award 2008 for all my efforts. I now teach in the local community centre (Croydon Islamic Cultural & Community Centre) where I continue to deliver my classes to young kids aged 7-14. New college students have taken over the Muslim Student Voice and it is alive and well, as active as ever, growing in strength term by term!”