BBC Radio 1 announces Teen Heroes for 2017

BBC Radio 1 has named its four Teen Heroes of 2017. The outstanding young winners have all proven their dedication to helping others through selfless, brave and exceptional achievements. 

The four winners will be presented with their Teen Hero Award at Radio 1’s Teen Awards on 22 October at London’s SSE Arena, Wembley. 

Radio 1’s Teen Awards, the number one teen event in the calendar, honours the UK’s unsung teenage heroes as well as the year’s best music, online, sport and entertainment stars.

The event will be hosted by The Radio 1 Breakfast Show presenter Nick Grimshaw and special guest co-host Rita Ora. An audience of 14-17 year-olds will enjoy musical performances from a superstar line-up, including, Liam Payne, Rita Ora, The Vamps, Camila Cabello and Dua Lipa, as well as appearances by celebrity award winners and award presenters.

The four Radio 1 Teen Heroes of 2017 are:

Radio 1’s My Mind & Me Teen Hero Award For Mental Health – Holly (15) and Oliver (13)
Holly and Oliver offer psychological, emotional and physical care to their mum, who suffers from associative identity disorder with complex post traumatic trauma. Over the last 18 months Holly and Oliver have set up a charity called The Adams Movement, with their older brother. The charity focusses on supporting other young carers who have a parent or guardian with mental health difficulties and aims to reduce the stigma by encouraging schools to talk about all types of mental health - providing information on mental health conditions to young people. The charity also offers one-to-one mentoring with other young people with similar experiences.

Radio 1’s 1 Million Hours Teen Hero Award for Volunteering - Charlotte (17)
Having been though the care system herself, Charlotte is passionate about changing the future of care and uses her own experience to influence nationwide policy. She has been a member of the Lancashire Children In Care Council (LINX), run for Lancashire County Council by Barnardo’s, for three years. Charlotte, along with other members of LINX, has been instrumental in bringing about positive changes for children and young adults in care. Charlotte has also worked with the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England (OCC), taking part in consultation groups with other children in care from around the UK.

Radio 1’s Generally Amazing Teen Hero Award - Harrison (12)
Harrison inspires other children with tackling obesity, anxiety and depression, after he dramatically turned his life around through exercise and changing his diet. Harrison documented his own journey via social media, inspiring other children to follow in his footsteps. Harrison now trains with other young people and advises them on healthy packed lunches as well as working with caterers at his school to ensure other pupils are eating healthily. Harrison has spoken publicly on TV and at a Public Health seminar about child obesity, has worked with Jamie Oliver and Joe Wicks (The Body Coach), has written blogs for UK Active and is a child ambassador for school nurses.

Radio 1 will be bringing listeners all of the fun from the awards ceremony - the whole event will be broadcast live on Radio 1 on Sunday 22 October and will be available to watch live on Radio 1’s BBC iPlayer channel, with highlights available to watch on Radio 1’s YouTube channel.

Further details about Radio 1’s Teen Awards here

Notes to Editors

The other Teen Hero finalists are:

Grace (12)
When Grace was nine years old she designed a sign to go on accessible toilet doors which she hopes will change attitudes across the UK and beyond. Grace’s goal is to change the perception that disabled toilets are not only for people with visible conditions. Grace has received support for her campaign from Scottish Parliament and the sign has been installed at Edinburgh Airport, garden centres across the UK, shopping centres in Bromley and Newcastle’s Metro Centre.

Keira (12)
Keira has a condition called Ulcerative Colitis. She has spent a lot of time in hospital over the last five years and has now had her bowel removed. Inflammatory Bowel Disease can be an embarrassing condition for some, but Keira has always been open and honest about her diagnosis, advising others with the same condition on the acceptance of living with a stoma. Keira has also raised funds for Crohn’s and Colitis UK and The Breakaway Foundation – The Buttony Bear Project.

Calvin (16)
Calvin has Asperger’s syndrome and in the past has suffered with severe anxiety, clinical depression and psychosis. Calvin has spoken about his personal experience at a number of events, on radio stations and in total has performed at over 200 charity and community events. With support from Dorset Mind and his family, Calvin created, planned, organised and executed a three day fundraising music event, which took place in three venues, covering three decades of music.

Ellie (16)
Ellie inspires others by sharing her story about her transgender journey and first presented her story at an emotional wellbeing conference to over 100 staff from primary and secondary schools. Ellie wants schools to be more inclusive environments for children having explorative thoughts around gender and sexuality and has worked with her mum to put together a lesson plan for Barnardo’s charity to deliver in schools across Buckinghamshire, to raise awareness about gender identity.

Tofi (12)
Tofi is a poet and wordsmith who has been inspiring people of all ages since the age of seven, using his creative talent to make a difference in his community. With a passion to see change in society, Tofi contributes to projects raising awareness of mental health among his peers and was part of the Young Minds project, which uses grime music to encourage people to express their feelings about their mental health and break taboos by sharing their thoughts.

Rafe (13)
Rafe was diagnosed him with a malignant, high-grade brain tumour when he was four years old and spent 15 months at Great Ormond Street Hospital having lifesaving treatment. Despite removing the tumour, the surgery left him with a number of side effects and he still receives monthly treatment. Whilst going through chemotherapy, Rafe would buy stickers for the other patients on the ward to help cheer them up, and has since raised £12,000 through regular plant and cake sales to say thank you for the care he received at the hospital. He grows the plants and bakes the cakes himself. Rafe is also a St John Ambulance Cadet and Trainee Lifeguard. He would love to be a paramedic when he grows up.

Katie (15)
Katie has a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), as well as other chronic illnesses which have caused her to spend a large amount of time in hospital. After she received a handmade card from a friend Katie, she decided she wanted to do a similar thing for other children and started Cards for Bravery, to help brighten the days of other hospitalised and seriously ill children and teens through positive, uplifting, handmade cards. Katie has sent more than 6,500 cards to different hospitals around England, as well as Bravery Packages - packages of gifts for very ill children and teens.

Watch extracts from last year's (2016) Teen Heroes below:

October 18, 2017 6:43am ET by BBC Radio 1  

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