Awards for local young people representing Shirehampton, Avonmouth, Sea Mills and Lawrence Weston

Jamie Hudd, 16, Venka Child, 17, and Mersey Blake, 15, who are members of the North 1 Youth Forum representing Shirehampton, Avonmouth, Sea Mills and Lawrence Weston, were honoured at the Youth Voice Awards hosted by the British Youth Council which was attended by young people across the UK.

Peter De Boer, Senior Youth and Community Worker with Bristol City Council's Children and Young People's Services said they had prioritised the key issues affecting children and young people in their areas and had identified actions to address them.

He said that these included transport for young people, drug misuse and bullying and violence. Outcomes had included campaigning to reduce the cost of public transport for young people and allocating funding for a series of projects including positive activities.

"They have brought a young person's perspective to neighbourhood services and passion about the priorities for young people and finding solutions. In many ways they have been more effective at communicating than adults. And when it comes to giving out funding they have been meticulous", he added.

Through the Youth Forum they have worked as a subgroup of the Avonmouth and Kingsweston Neighbourhood Partnerships to deliver partnership priorities, working with local councillors.

The trio, who are now nearing the end of their two-year period of office, will subsequently act as mentors to future members of the forum while Venka, who lives in Shirehampton, has recently been elected to the Bristol youth parliament.