October 20th 2019 | In mid October I was told I had been nominated for a Global Youth Award 2019 for my work towards helping the environment through my music and new initiative, The Solution, which aims to educate people on small changes they can make to help save our world from the impending climate crisis. On Thursday morning I received an email to say that I had been shortlisted as a finalist and was invited to the RoundTable.Global – Creating Empowering Cultures 2019 Awards on Saturday night. That in itself was a huge shock, not least to be shortlisted, but also that I needed to be in London for Saturday evening! I made arrangements to be available, and took the train up to the amazing new venue, Magazine London situated right next to The O2 in Greenwich. The evening set off with some awe-inspiring winners being announced for the extraordinary work they had done through music, education, empowerment, and for the environment. Areas tackled included knife crime, endangered animals, plastics recycling, mental health, environmental/social awareness, and LGBTQA+ bullying/language. I felt incredibly humbled simply to be seated in a room amongst so many inspirational young people, and I honestly felt quite insignificant for being a nominee for my comparatively small environmental contribution. Yet, halfway through the evening, another winner was introduced by Jacqui Hamlin, one of the founders of Beyond Bamboo (a company for sustainable products and services) with a speech including the words of the nominator, and I realised she was talking about me! The entire day had been a whirlwind of emotions, caused mainly by my Asperger’s Syndrome, daily anxiety, the surprise invitation, and thus not understanding entirely what was going on. But, I walked up onto that stage and was presented with the Global Youth Award 2019 for Environmental Innovation! I fumbled my way through an impromptu speech – I truly hadn’t prepared anything – and on leaving the stage was whisked away for an interview to camera, clutching my award in my shaking hands. To say I’m still in shock is an understatement. And I am now searching for the perfect place in my studio to display my award. But I hope you enjoy these few photos and little bit of video from last night. It’s taken me until now to put these few words together so I can share this overwhelming experience with you all . Thank you to Ngaire Ruth for nominating me, to the incredible Round Table Global team for this amazing honour, and to every one of you for reminding me why I get up and do this every day. And huge congratulations to every nominee and winner – you are all INCREDIBLE!
