22 October 2019
A young woman who has shown 'outstanding commitment' to putting young people first and ensuring their voices are heard has been chosen as this year’s new Youth Ambassador.
Yasmine Bates was announced as the new Youth Ambassador for Jersey at the YOSCARS awards on Friday evening.
The event, which was organised by the Jersey Youth Service, was the biggest YOSCARS to date and attended by more than 200 young people aged between 11 and 17 years old.
Children’s Minister Senator Sam Mézec and Assistant Education Minister Deputy Jeremy Maçon presented every youth project with certificates to celebrate their achievements. Awards were given to young people from 18 different youth service projects, who collected bronze, silver or gold awards for their active involvement in their local projects.
Senator Mézec said: “It was a fantastic evening and a privilege to be there to hand out awards and hear about all the amazing things young people involved in the Youth Service have achieved over the past year. They should be very proud of themselves.”
Deputy Maçon added: “It was the biggest YOSCARS to date with 200 young people being recognised and celebrated for their achievements. Congratulations to the new Youth Ambassador, Yasmine Bates, who will represent young people from across the Youth Service. I would like to personally thank the Jersey Youth Service team for organising this inspirational event for our young people.”
Young people hosted the awards, at the Royal Hotel, David Place, providing entertainment throughout the evening with music, a magic show, a sign choir and a surprise skeleton dance flash-mob.
In announcing the new Youth Ambassador, Principal Youth Officer Mark Capern said that Yasmine had achieved a huge amount during her involvement in the Youth Service and with St Peter’s Youth Club. She also received the Diana Renault trophy, which is awarded to a young person who has shown outstanding commitment to the youth club.
Yasmine, who will now help to raise awareness and be the voice of the Jersey Youth Service across Government and in the community, said: “As a young person, I believe that being your true self is the best way to live. You should never change for people and always believe in yourself and that is when you will truly be happy. The Youth Service helps tremendously with young people to grow in confidence and find their true character.
“As a young person entering the Youth Service, I was shy and overwhelmed. Attending youth club has allowed me to grow in confidence and become who I am today: a proud and outgoing person. I am certain that if you believe in yourself or something you can achieve anything when you put your mind to it.
“My own achievements have helped me gain a lot of confidence and I am able to expand my goals even if they can make me feel uncomfortable. This is important to me as I always like to go the extra mile in improving myself and helping others. I believe that we must support each other in our goals and our dreams and help each other to achieve them. Sometimes they may seem a world away, but I believe in trusting yourself and the support of the people around us to achieve almost anything. We just have to start.”
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