AN INSPIRATIONAL awards scheme celebrating the achievements of young Asians in Yorkshire has extended the deadline for entries.
The Yorkshire Asian Young Achievers Awards – known as The YAYAs – are open to any young person of South Asian heritage who was born in Yorkshire and now lives anywhere in the country, or lives and works in, Yorkshire.
Aimed at socially-mobile young achievers who have overcome deprivation and disadvantage or have broken through traditional barriers to progress, the awards attracted scores of entries in its very first year, despite the difficulties created by the pandemic.
With Covid 19 impacting on businesses, organisations, and schools, colleges and universities, organisers have decided to keep entries open for another two weeks. The closing date is now Saturday July 31.
The YAYAS are organised by the Bradford-based charity QED Foundation, which exists to improve the social and economic position of disadvantaged communities in partnership with public, private and civil society organisations, along with their headline partners, York St John University.
Dr Mohammed Ali OBE, Chief Executive of QED, said: “It’s really important that anyone eligible has the opportunity to enter, and we want to make sure that as many people as possible have had the chance to do so.
“The current situation has obviously impacted on the message getting out there, so we are extending the deadline for almost two weeks.
“Yorkshire has more than 600,000 BME residents, the vast majority of whom are of South Asian origin, and we want to make sure they all have the chance to enter.
“These young people continue to struggle to overcome disadvantages in making their way in the world, whether that is in education, employment or social mobility generally. We want these awards to celebrate the dynamic, hard-working people achieving great things with their lives.
“The standard of entries last year was truly remarkable. We had humbling and life-affirming stories of people overcoming the odds to carve their way in life and we feel enormously proud of all those who entered. They were all truly inspirational.”
Details of how to enter can be found at theyayas.org.uk or qed-uk.org.