The family of Stephen Lawrence have pledged their full support behind an awards campaign aimed at celebrating the achievements of young people.
The awards are being supported by the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation and will this year be held in person with Stephen’s mother Baroness Doreen Lawrence, of Clarendon, and brother Stuart Lawrence attending the ceremony.
Baroness Lawrence and Stephen’s brother will also present an award to one of the winners on the evening.
The awards ceremony aims to recognise the talents of young people throughout the county and the amazing ways they have contributed to society, helped others and shown great talent which deserves to be recognised as part of the Live Our Best Life Awards.
Stephen Lawrence
Stephen Lawrence was murdered on 22 April 1993 and following a public inquiry into the handling of the investigation, the Macpherson Report accused the Metropolitan Police of institutional racism in 1999, leading to police forces across the country making changes to their practices.
Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation
The awards will form part of the force’s celebration of Stephen Lawrence Day on 22 April, with six categories open to nominees.
Held virtually for the first time last year, the awards were deemed a great success with over 50 entries and people from across Nottinghamshire nominated for their great achievements.
This year the ceremony will be held in a suite at Nottingham Forest Football Club on 19 April, with the winners set to receive iPads, gift cards and unique experiences including a behind-the-scenes tour of our police dog kennels.
Stephen Lawrence’s brother, Stuart, has backed the awards and will also be forming part of the panels that select the winners for each of the six categories.
In a video, Stuart said: “I am delighted to announce that the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation is supporting the Nottinghamshire police Live Our Best Life Awards.
“The youth outreach team wanting to recognise young people’s inspirational and amazing efforts and the work that they do in their local communities in this county.
“The last 12 months have been really hard, especially for the young people but they have shown great resilience in the face of adversity.
“If you know any young person who has done something inspirational, something amazing over the last 12 months and their effort deserves to be recognised in some sort of way please nominate them for this award via the Nottinghamshire Police website.
“I look forward to seeing your entries.”
The awards form just one part of Nottinghamshire Police’s ongoing work in local communities to celebrate and give opportunities to young people.
This involves the mini police programme, the police cadets and other ongoing engagement events delivered by the Citizens in Policing department and neighbourhood policing teams at the force.
Chief Constable Craig Guildford, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “As a force we are committed to working with communities to make positive change and these awards are just one of the ways we want to engage with young people from all backgrounds and really show our support to their incredible achievements.
“It is so important that we never forget what happened to Stephen and we do not forget the lessons learned as a police service and we continue to strive to be better.
“I would like to thank Baroness Lawrence and Stuart Lawrence for their continued support with these awards and look forward to meeting with them on the evening and really shining a light on some of Nottinghamshire’s amazing young people.”
Romel Davis, force outreach worker at Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This awards ceremony is a great way for us to recognise the amazing work being done by young people in our communities.
“It’s also a brilliant way to recognise the work that the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation carries out and how they help other young people and give them a voice and opportunities to further their careers.
“I see the incredible achievements and talents of young people every day in my job and I really want to encourage anyone reading this to nominate their friends, family and students for an award and to really shine a light on their hard work.
“I am so pleased and eternally grateful to have the support from Stephen’s family in supporting these awards and everything we are trying to do at Nottinghamshire Police to really recognise young people and their achievements.”
Nominations for the awards can be made via the below link: https://www.nottinghamshire.po..
For more information on the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation, head to the below link: https://stephenlawrenceday.org…
