A YOUNG community worker has beat off competition from hundreds of people to be short-listed among 12 achievers for a national award.
Afrasiab Anwar, 23, from Burnley, has been selected for an award under the Whitbread Young Achievers (WYA) scheme.
The scheme aims to celebrate the achievements of young people nationwide who have made a difference, with activity that has benefited their community as well as contributed to their own personal development.
The awards recognise exceptional achievement in three categories -- community, environment and sport -- and there are four nominees short-listed in each category.
Afrasiab was nominated in the Whitbread Young Sports Achiever category, supported by Sport England, for his work coaching children as part of the Young Asian Children in Burnley project.
He was praised by the judging panel, chaired by Whitbread regional director Gary Moran, and including England badminton international Gillian Clark, for his "remarkable commitment and dedication to helping other young people in his area".
Afrasiab began volunteering in June 2002, originally committing eight hours per week to the project, which focused on football coaching.
When it ended last summer due to a lack of funding, Afrasiab decided to charge each child £1 and subsidise the rest of the costs himself.
He has since built on numbers with the group growing from just five children regularly attending to over 30 children across three age groups.
According to his nominator, Millennium Volunteers co-ordinator Kay Lingley, Afrasiab's commitment to his coaching is also giving young Asian men from Burnley the opportunity to be involved. He has contacted sports development officers in Burnley for details of local tournaments to enter his teams. Kay said: "Afrasiab is an excellent role model to other Asian children and has had a positive effect on his home town of Burnley, which has recently been in the public eye with regard to racial disharmony issues."
The overall winner in each category will be announced at a special awards lunch in London on Wednesday, June 11, where they will receive £2,500 for personal and project development as well as £250 in leisure vouchers and 12 months' follow-up support.
Three runners-up in each category will all receive £250 for development and £250 worth of leisure vouchers.
If Afrasiab wins the main award, he plans to use the prize money to re-invest in the project, purchase a kit for the players could wear and pay for transport to and from the games. He also plans to send his volunteers on an FA Level One Coaching Award.
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