INSPIRATIONAL young people from the Isle of Wight were celebrated at the annual High Sheriff's awards last night (Thursday).
A ceremony took place at the Riverside Centre in Newport, where High Sheriff Robin Courage MBE paid tribute to the young people who had overcome adversity to do great things.
He said: "It has been a huge honour to hold this post and I have met so many wonderful people throughout this magical Island over the past year — and tonight is no different.
"In fact, it is the highlight of my year, as this is my chance to honour some very, very special young people."
The winners were:

Taylor Bates
Taylor has turned his life around by going to Military Preparation College. Before, he was always in trouble at school and struggled with self-discipline. He has gone from being a disruptive schoolboy to a useful, effective young man, who is going places.

Natasha Lambert
Natsha has athetoid cerebral palsey, which means that she has uncontrolled involuntary movements, but this has not stopped her having a full life. Using a specially adapted boat designed by her father, Natasha has seemingly achieved the impossibly by not only sailing around the Island, but also across the channel, to Wales, across the breadth of Scotland, and up the Thames to Tower Bridge. She has also climbed two mountains using a specially designed brace with wheels.

Spike O'Connor
Spike, 11, is a star pupil at St Catherine's School in Ventnor. He has severe and complex speech, language and communication needs as well as moderate learning difficulties, reduced vision and significant motor skill difficulties. He has come on a long way during his time at St Catherine's and has grown into a polite, kind, helpful and hard-working young man.

Michaela Foster
Michaela was nominated by Atkinson House, a sheltered housing project for young people at risk of homelessness. Having had a difficult relationship with her adoptive parents, Michaela went into foster care at an early age. Now, with the help of mental health support and supported housing, Michaela is doing really well and has moved into her own property and is living independently.

Joseph Thumbi Wangige
Joseph was born in the slums of Nyeri in Kenya to his single mother and six siblings. He joined the street life of his Kenyan slum at the age of eight, purely to meet the needs of food and shelter and suffered during gang fights and run-ins with the police. However, Joseph learnt to play football. He made it off the streets and into education and after many failed attempts, he got a visa to study in the UK. He attends IW College and plays for Newport FC and coaches school groups on a weekly basis.

Jasmine Wood
Jasmine was also nominated by Atkinson House. She has had to overcome numerous mental health issues and has lacked self confidence. Jasmine joined the young person's volunteer group, the IW Green Army, which has helped her with self confidence and motivation.

Jacob Sebastian
Jacob joined St George's School in the sixth form as a Year 12 student. He had been home educated for some time following bad experiences at a mainstream secondary school. He suffered with very high anxiety and found it difficult to trust anyone. Since then he has progressed well and has built friendships in his class and is a model student who applies himself to everything he does.

Hettie Bell
After her grandfather was diagnosed with terminal eye cancer, nine-year-old Hettie decided to apply herself to fundraising for charity, on his behalf. The first thing she did was cut off her long blonde pigtails and donated the hair to The Little Princess Trust and raised money for the Earl Mountbatten Hospice. Since then she has held many fundraising events and she is planning to shave the rest of her hair off to raise funds for the hospice.

William Phillips
William has been volunteering for the Green Army since May 2015, when he moved into the Foyer. Week in, week out, rain or shine, William has been waking early and volunteering to support the Wildlife Trust with their important conservation work all over the Island. He has show true dedication by attending every Green Army session and continuing long after he left the Foyer.

Rebecca Christian
Rebecca arrived at Atkinson House in November 2015, aged 16. She had a difficult relationship with her mother and at the age of 12, her mother threw her out. Rebecca spent the next four years sofa-surfing until she moved in at Atkinson House. Since January, Rebecca has been attending HTP training doing health and social care and wants to become a social worker.

French Barlow

Despite suffering with chronic regional pain syndrome, which causes her significant pain, French has remained one of the most hard-working, positive and dedicated volunteers joining the Green Army. She knows that the physically demanding work will leave her in great pain for the days that foll, but this doesn't stop her taking part.

Shayne Jackson

After years of hiding his sexuality from his parents, who are outspoken on their views around sexuality and God, Shayne eventually came out to his parents in May last year. He was subsequently kicked out of the family home. After sofa-surfing, he got a place at the Foyer and has spent his time ever since raising awareness of the issues LGBTQ+ young people face. He set up a Gay Straight Alliance at his sixth form at Christ the King College and has spoken on Vectis Radio about the issues.

The Isle of Wight Green Army
The Green Army was presented a special team award by the High Sheriff. The Green Army is a conservation volunteer group for 16 to 25 year olds, run by Vectis Housing as part of their Wild about Wight project. It began three years ago when young Foyer residents identiffied a lack of connection with nature. They carry out conservation work all over the Island.


Isle of Wight District of the Hampshire Constabulary

The High Sheriff presented a special award to the Island's policing team, which he presented to Superintendant Sarah Jackson, the officer in charge of the Island's 180 strong police force.
High Sheriff Robin Courage said: "They are rarely recognised publicly for their tireless work on our Island, so tonight I would like to change that."

Caption: 
(Back row) French Barlow, Thumbi Wagine, Jasmine Wood, William Phillips, Supt Sarah Marshall.
(Middle row) Jasmine and Katy Ford of the Isle of Wight Green Army, Taylor Bates, Robin Courage, Rebecca Christian, Shayne Jackson.
(Front row) Spike O'Connor, Hettie Bell, Natasha Lambert.