Beeston youngster Luca Pandur has been nominated for a Nottinghamshire County Council outstanding achievement award.
The Nottinghamshire Outstanding Achievement 4Uth Award aims to recognise young people who have achieved a great deal and pushed their personal boundaries, whatever they are.
It is a county council initiative to celebrate the achievements of young people across the county.
Luca, 15, goes to Chilwell School and attends Beeston Young People’s Centre in West End, Beeston. She has been nominated by youth worker Nikki Loydall.
Luca has been attending Beeston Young People’s Centre on a regular basis for about six months now and in that time she has proved herself to be a very genuine, nice, friendly person.
At the youth club, Luca always volunteers herself to help out, whether that is helping within the tuck shop, helping staff to renovate the notice boards, or helping to set up, run and pack away activities.
She is very friendly and very helpful and always looks out for other young people and her peers. Luca has also started attending the Beeston Young People’s Centre Youth Forum, where she takes an active role in representing other young people and having a voice and influence over what happens within the centre.
Luca also helps out at home quite a lot too. She is originally from Hungary and her parents can often struggle understanding things in the English language.
Quite often, Luca will be called upon to translate letters, emails, phone calls and conversations to enable her parents to understand more clearly what is going on in certain situations. She also helps out with childcare with her younger siblings.
Luca plays for a badminton team at Chilwell Olympia in her spare time, which means giving up her own time at weekends – often very early in the morning – as other team-mates are relying on her.
Nikki said: “Luca is a very friendly and positive young person and is a good influence on other young people that she comes in to contact with.
“She works at hard at school but also enjoys her time out of school and is very helpful and polite at the same time and I believe that she is an inspiration for other young people, which is why I am nominating her for this award. She should be very proud of herself.”
Councillor Tracey Taylor, vice-chairman of the Children and Young People’s Committee at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “Luca has been through a very tough time with the loss of one of her close friends but she has done so much to keep her friend’s memory alive. She is a worthy nominee for the4Uth awards for all she has achieved.”