Black Isle Teenager Nominated For National Award

A teenager from the Black isle who volunteers 15 hours of his spare time each week to help improve life for young people where he lives has been nominated for a Buchanan¹s of Scotland Young People of the Year (YOPEY) award.

Fraser Thomson, 15, from Townlands Park in Cromarty is competing for £6,000 in cash prizes in a brand new contest for Scotland that has the backing of the Prime Minister.
Fraser works tirelessly at two youth cafes, organises events for young people and the community as a whole, and he also sits on a number of committees in his community.

Among the events Fraser has helped organised have been a very successful
community sing together, a Highland games event and a canoeing expedition. 
He has also arranged sessions for young people focusing on circus skills, paint-balling, sea-kayaking, mountain biking and wall-climbing. He also spends his free time applying for funds to expand facilities in Cromarty for young people.

Four years ago Fraser helped set up a youth café in Cromarty at The Victoria Hall along with youth worker Wanda Mackay. The youth café now offers young people a place to go with different sessions held throughout the week. It has been a big success attracting between 20 and 30 young people to each session. Fraser has helped put on activities as diverse as dance, dodge ball and rock climbing. But the youth café also acts as a place young people can go to just chill out, watch films, play games and watch TV. He also helps out at another youth club 15 miles away in Culbokie and sits on a number of committees in the community including Highland Youth Voice.

Despite all this he still finds time to complete his schoolwork and he holds down a part-time job as a kitchen porter in Cromarty. Cooking is Fraser’s great love. He is a pupil at Fortrose Academy and is currently attending Inverness College once a week to learn to become a chef. He has shared his passion for cooking with his peers at the youth cafés and he plans to put on more cookery demonstrations in the future.

Fraser says that he is so busy because he wants young people in Cromarty to have good facilities and things to do. "I want to make sure that the facilities we have for young
people are still here in 10 years time so the next generation of young people continue to benefit from what we have."

This is the first time the Young People of the Year (YOPEY) awards have been held in Scotland. But YOPEY has been up and running successfully across England since 2005. The competition has unearthed many unsung heroes who, like Fraser, go out of their way to help others. The competition is supported by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who described YOPEY as a "wonderful celebration of Britain’s youth."

Wanda Mackay, who nominated Fraser for the Young People of the Year awards, said: "Fraser works tirelessly in our community to help create opportunities for young people. He has a very caring nature. There isn¹t a person he wouldn¹t help and as a result he is highly respected. He never says no, whatever needs doing he is there. He is a human dynamo with tremendous energy and a character that young and old like. Cromarty is a better place because of him."

Fraser added: "Cromarty is the community I grew up in and I want the best for the place I call home. If you are not willing to do things for your community who else will?"

Fraser is hoping to become a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament in the future to make sure the voice of young people is heard. He would like to become a chef or a youth worker once he leaves college.

YOPEY was the idea of former English national newspaper journalist Tony Gearing. He wanted to highlight the great work youngsters do to counter the negative image that some people have of young people. Those nominated will compete for £6,000 in prize money put up by Scottish sweet maker Buchanan¹s. There are 14 prizes ranging from £2,000 to £200.

Tony said: "Fraser is a great entry for YOPEY. His community spirit is alive and kicking and he is making a real difference. We know there are more out there and we want to hear about all the other young people and the good work they do."