1. Welcome to the Suffolk Hope Awards

Suffolk Constabulary and Suffolk County Council have launched the third Suffolk HOPE awards during National Hate Crime Awareness Week to recognise and celebrate the positive contributions that young people make within the county.

Secondary schools and education providers for 16 to 18-year-olds are invited to nominate a worthy young person or group whom they think have been involved in inspiring projects or activities for themselves and those around them.

Nominations are welcome for any young person aged between 11 and 18 years-old who has gone above and beyond and continued to demonstrate resilience, determination and teamworking during 2021/2022. Nominations are now open and will close on Friday 24^h February 2023.

The categories are as follows:

DIVERSITY – Individuals or groups who have promoted diversity, taken a stand to prevent/stop discrimination, have undertaken activity to help challenge a negative mindset and affected positive change.

RESPECT AND KINDNESS – Kindness is often an underestimated attribute; this category aims to recognise actions (both large and small) which demonstrate compassion and an understanding of another’s struggles.

TEAMWORK – Teamwork is a skill carried forward from school to higher education, work and adulthood. This category aims to acknowledge the benefits of sharing ideas and experiences and finding a common approach to solve an issue.

DETERMINATION – This category aims to celebrate and recognise the determination and resilience of our young people and reward their positive attitude to finding solutions or helping each other and their community.

Once the nominations have been submitted, they will all be assessed and the judging panel will meet to choose the winner in each of the four categories and one overall HOPE winner. The awards will be presented to the successful candidate winners separately in April next year. For the full criteria and to submit an entry via the online application form, visit: https://www.suffolk.police.uk/hope/5-apply-here. Alternatively, a form can be requested by emailing [email protected].

Suffolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore said: “Celebrating achievement is important to us all.  There is so much good work being done by young people right across the county and sadly this often goes unnoticed.

“The Suffolk HOPE awards are a fantastic opportunity for us to herald some of the outstanding young people we know and admire.  If you know someone who deserves recognition please nominate them so we can all celebrate the positive contributions they make.”

Clair Harvey, Lead Officer for the Safer Stronger Communities Board and Senior Manager, Public Health & Communities, Suffolk County Council, said: “The Suffolk Hope Awards are an ideal way to celebrate the positive contributions young people make daily to their communities. We have seen some truly amazing examples of compassion and respect demonstrated by young people across Suffolk from previous Hope Awards and I am sure we will be equally impressed by this year’s nominations.