Waipā Youth Award ceremony cancelled for second year due to COVID-19

This year’s Waipā Youth Awards ceremony has been cancelled for a second year due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The annual awards, scheduled to take place on the evening of Thursday 26 August, celebrate achievement in academia, arts and culture, community service, leadership and sport.

Last year, the awards night was cancelled due to restrictions around mass gatherings and head students from Te Awamutu College, Cambridge High School and St Peter’s, Cambridge put together a video recognising the top achievers.

Waipā mayor Jim Mylchreest said having the awards ceremony cancelled for a second year was unfortunate but necessary.

“It’s a real shame that we need to cancel the awards evening, however we still want to make sure our exceptional young people are celebrated as they have contributed so much to our schools and communities over the last year.”

“Once we’re through this current round of restrictions we’ll decide whether to reschedule the awards night, or announce the award winners digitally as we did in 2020.”

Organisations contributing to and supporting this year’s awards include local Rotary and Lions Clubs, the University of Waikato, Business Networking International, Fonterra, Construction Advantage Limited, print firm CMYK and Storey Sport.

This year’s awards attracted 97 nominations, with 52 awards to be handed out. The awards were open to students aged 14-18 who live, or have attended school in Waipā.