Back in January, we launched a call for nominations to our network looking for someone who inspires them. Young Islanders could nominate any other young islander aged 5 to 25 who, for one reason or another, was inspirational to them. We received a lot of nominations since the call was launched, and it has been very difficult because all the young people nominated have been doing amazing things that all deserve recognition.
Naomi has been busy recently, and has visited Cumbrae and Lewis to award our winner and second place holder inspirational young islanders their titles and celebrate this amazing achievement with them. In third place we had Ellie from Barra and Bethany from Lewis received a special mention.
Congratulations to all four for your amazing success!
1. Caitlin from Cumbrae
Our winner is 15 year old Caitlin from Millport, who was nominated by several members of the community for her resilience, courage and for being a ray of sunshine to all who cross her path. We can certainly agree with all the nominations and agree that Caitlin is a real inspiration, so a huge congratulations to her form us!
Caitlin has faces a number of health challenges all throughout her life and supports her family members who have their own health challenges, and she does it all with humour and a smile!
She is enjoying working towards a Childcare qualification and wants to work with children as a classroom or nursery assistant. She gets more practice in engaging with kids who visit they top shop she works in on the Millport seafront! We’re so proud of you Caitlin.
In her free time, Caitlin likes to do diamond art and we saw a piece of her work, which takes great patience and skill. She likes to bake and spend time chatting to her friends. We talked to our newly appointed Inspirational Young Islander about some of the great things about living in Cumbrae and some of the challenges such as having to travel off island for school and hospital appointments.
We hope to hear more from Caitlin and we wish her every success with her future. We are sure she is going to continue to inspire others with her joy and kindness.
Huge congratulations to Caitlin!
2. Riley from Lewis
Naomi also visited Riley from Lewis, who came second and was also the first announcement from the YIN Inspirational Young Islanders nominations!
It was such a great selection of nominations to choose from, but the panel felt that Riley stood out due to his selflessness and kindness.
Riley raised over £200 for the local Monday Stroke Club which supports people who have been affected by strokes and their families and carers who regularly meet up in Stornoway. Riley also helps out in the school holidays and enjoys chatting to people there and he enjoys the cake too!
In addition to this, Riley donated toys from the family run shop and he made up 25 gift bags for children in the community who may not have had much at Christmas.
We heard from mum who said “He does all these things despite being in pain with his own physical disability and never complains about it. He cannot walk unaided but that never stops him.”
And from what we saw on Saturday, he never stops smiling either! What an inspiration you are Riley! Good luck with the lambing season this Spring and we look forward to hearing all about your volunteering at Monday Stroke Club over the summer. And huge congratulations for being such an inspiration to your fellow young islanders!
Congratulations riley!
3. Ellie from Barra
In third place we have Ellie from Barra! Huge congratulations to Ellie. She was nominated by a peer who said:
“Where do I start! She’s such an inspiration, always out travelling, trying new things and leading others in her adventures. I have had the privilege to work with her as an MSYP and she’s such a kind young person who is so passionate about island life! Watching her grow more confident in her role not just as an MSYP but as a young leader has been amazing, she is an inspiration to myself and many others.”
How inspirational Ellie! We feel so lucky to have you in our community.
Special mention to Bethany from Lewis
We want to send a special mention out to Bethany, from Lewis, who narrowly missed out on the top three but we were really taken by her nomination and want to give her a shout out.
“They are a young carer for their grandparents, especially her granny… She has been going to her granny since a young age but as she has got older has taken on more responsible duties in her care and enjoys chatting to granny in Gaelic. She is a polite person, speaks to everyone young and old. Helps all family members and helps with her younger nieces and nephews. She has a great friend groups that she cares for. She has a huge fondness for animals and will help any strays, help with lambing and peats. Does not complain. She also like to call people in time to talk day which I think is great and it’s a young person picking up the phone to call people who are lonely. Bethany was also house captain in Stornoway primary for her house and took that responsibility on board very much. Championing the pupils and always putting points across to the teachers and head teachers.”
Congratulations to the inspirational Bethany!
If you would like to share your stories with us, please email us at: yin@youthscotland.org.uk