The Sunday Mail Young Scot Awards have been honouring incredible young people for 17 years.
Today we reveal the 33 extraordinary finalists in the running to be named Young Scot 2023 – and every one of them has shown spirit, dedication and determination well beyond their years. The winners will be announced at a glittering awards ceremony at Platform Glasgow on June 8, hosted by Capital Radio DJ Katy J where one will be crowned overall champion.
Sunday Mail editor Lorna Hughes said: “It is a privilege for this newspaper to help salute the achievements of our young heroes. We look forward to honouring these inspirational young people.”
Young Scot CEO Kirsten Urquhart said: “Congratulations to our outstanding finalists. Year after year, I’m so impressed and inspired by young people in communities across Scotland.”
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ARTS
Katie Duthie, 18, Perth
The piper was twice selected to play the national anthem on the roof of Murrayfield before Scotland rugby games, performing in front of more than 67,000 supporters in the stadium and millions more on TV.
Joseph Miranda, 13, Dundee
The teenager has raised more than £7K for the British Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal by busking in his home city. Joseph, who started busking aged four, can play the violin, saxophone, keyboard and cajon.
Overdrive Dance Company, 15-20, Glasgow
The all-male dance troop seeks to tackle the stigma of boys taking part in dance and removes the financial barriers for participating in the arts by offering free sessions.
COMMUNITY
In partnership with the Scottish Children’s Lottery
Shannon Keys, 22, Glasgow
For the last four years she has been working in the Beatson Cafe and has amassed around 500 hours of volunteering and puts cancer patients and their families at ease with her warmth.
Strut Safe, Edinburgh
Alice Jackson, 24 and Rho Chung, 28, launched a volunteer helpline service to help people who feel vulnerable get home safe at night in the tragic wake of the death of Sarah Everard.
The GOFFs (Group of Falkirk’s Future), 15-17, Falkirk
This team of young people volunteer at different youth clubs in their hometown delivering a programme of activities and events and are making a huge difference within their communities.
ENHANCING EDUCATION
Akrit Ghimire, 17, Glasgow
The computer whizz is using his skills to help pupils and teachers at Rosshall Academy by running a web club, redesigning the website, creating apps to support mental wellbeing and giving Higher Maths tutorials on Instagram.
Mark Smith, 25, Shawbost, Isle of Lewis
The amateur chef is helping to keep the Gaelic language alive by giving cooking and baking tutorials on social media which are spoken in Gaelic with English subtitles. He has thousands of followers.
Molly Turnbull, 21, Cupar, Fife
The young adventurer is a graduate of the Polar Academy which offers vulnerable children the chance to take part in an Arctic expedition. Last month Molly trekked to Everest Base Camp to raise money for the Academy which gave her a chance in life.
ENTERPRISE
Jamie Gordon, 16, Carluke, South Lanarkshire
The teenager set up a car washing and valeting business, Jambo G Valeting, from his home garage when he was just 13 and since then has built up a huge clientele and has saved up enough for his first car.
Robbie MacIsaac, 22, Falkirk
He has generated more than £85K with his FLUX Blowpipe which removes mositure from bagpipes and prevents the condition Piper’s Lung. His invention also impressed the tycoons on Dragon’s Den.
Tania Debra Vas, 24, Edinburgh
She has conducted research regarding equality and diversity in the field of social work which the University of Edinburgh plans to publish. She also designed an anti-racist diversity training programme which was used by uni staff and students.
ENTERTAINMENT
Yong-Chin Marika Breslin, 25, Glasgow
The makeup artist was recently crowned the winner of BBC show Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star. Her designs throughout the series drew on both her Scottish and south-east Asian heritage for inspiration.
Kelsie Grieg, 22, Aberdeen
The former footballer has made history by becoming the first woman in the world to qualify to play Call of Duty at elite level. She is blazing a trail for female players in the male-dominated world of online gaming.
Meryl Williams, 26, Edinburgh
The Traitors star was the first person with dwarfism to win a reality game show and has now quit her job to focus on presenting work and journalism to break boundaries and stigma around disabilities.
ENVIRONMENT
In partnership with SSE Energy Solutions
Harry Leadingham, 17, Dundee
He developed an app to help identify the wildflowers in community gardens using a QR code to link the plant to an informative database. He is also on the Youth Engagement Committee on Climate Change.
Finlay Pringle, 15, Ullapool, Scottish Highlands
He’s a marine conservationist, climate change activist and shark ambassador who has collaborated with school education company Twinkl on a pack to increase awareness of sea conservation.
Laura Young, 26, Dundee
The environmental activist known as ‘Less Waste Laura’ has spoken at COP26 in Glasgow and COP27 in Egypt and has appeared on TV promoting sustainable living. She is campaigning to ban disposable vapes.
EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY
In partnership with Arnold Clark
Cameron Peter Lyon Coupar, 13, Blairgowrie, Perthshire
The teenager embraces his challenges with dyslexia and having a stammer to help support others. He raises awareness for both by participating in research projects and making videos to help other neurodivergent young people.
Medical Herstory, 21-26, across Scotland
This youth-led, not-for-profit organisation aims to eliminate sexism, shame and stigma from health experiences for women and gender-diverse people by providing online information, resources and support.
LGBT Youth Scotland Trans Rights Youth Commission, 16-24, across Scotland
This group take action on transgender rights and took young people’s voices to the highest levels within the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament to inform the reform of the Gender Recognition Act.
HEALTH AND WELLBEING
Beth Catchpole, 20, Prestonpans, East Lothian
She has turned her own hardships and experiences into strengths to support other care-experienced and family substance-use affected young people as a peer mentor with the Bridges Project.
Sai Shraddha S. Viswanathan, 26, Aberdeen
After the Scottish Government announced they were cutting the funding for mental health services in unis and colleges Sai lobbied and campaigned and secured funding to keep services at Aberdeen University up and running.
YoMo – Young Food Ambassadors, 16-18, Glasgow
Jacob Kennedy 18, Tyler Hill and Rhowan Lockhart, both 17, created a ‘Food Poverty Awareness Pack’ to highlight the crisis and give young people info on where they can source food when they are struggling.
SPORT
In partnership with sportscotland
Scott McTominay, 26, Lancaster
The Manchester United midfielder, whose dad is from Helensborough, Dunbartonshire, is the current star of Scotland’s national team after scoring the winning goal against Spain in the Euro qualifiers.
Kirsty Muir, 18, Aberdeen
The teenager has represented Scotland and Great Britain in freestyle skiing at the World Championships, Winter Olympics and Xgames competitions. In January 2023, she became the first Scottish skier to win an XGames medal on snow and the first British female skier to land a double cork 1620.
Nayma Sheikh, 17, East Kilbride
The cricketer was the youngest member of the first-ever women’s team to represent Scotland at a World Cup where they recorded a historic win over the USA.
UNSUNG HERO
In partnership with Solace Scotland
Abbie Jarvis, 12, Glasgow
The schoolgirl, who was beaten unconscious by another girl, is the face of a campaign tackling youth violence. Abbie, who has autism, bravely waived her right to anonymity to share her story and push for more to be done to address the disturbing culture.
Mariya Javed, 13, Elderslie, Renfrewshire
She helped set up the Another Star in the Sky fund in memory of her brother who died from a rare brain condition and has raised more than £20K to raise awareness and fund research into the condition.
Rhianna Mackay, 17, Caithness, Highlands
Living in a remote part of Scotland, the teenager recognised the gulf in mental health support available and set about empowering the pupils at her school to mentor and support each other. She created a booklet, offered drop-in sessions and provided presentations.
YOUNG HERO
In partnership with XSite Braehead
Nawid Barez, 17, East Kilbride
The teenager fled Afghanistan when the Taliban took over his village. His family were all captured and he was forced to continue his journey alone. He walked 2000 miles over mountains, travelled through eight countries and ended up in Scotland where he is working hard to make his family proud.
Shreya Veerapaa, 12, Aberdeen
The schoolgirl dived into the deep end of the pool at Robert Gordon’s College and saved the life of her friend who was lying unconscious at the bottom. The girl made a full recovery.
Leah Woods, 13
The teenager has rescued and rehomed more than 250 abandoned cats from the streets. Some were abandoned and others were born into kitty mills. The majority would not have survived without her help.