Glittering Ceremony Celebrates Success of UK’s Top Talent
Young people across Britain gathered at the Scottish Parliament (Tuesday 6th June) to attend the Inspire Awards which celebrate the talents of young people aged 5 to 17 who excel in whatever they love to do. The youngsters from Glasgow who won were:
- Ojas Sunil Maniyar, aged 9, who won the Cricket Champ Award
- Aadi Chavan, aged 6 who won the Adventure Champ Award
- Namra Sayyed, aged 9, who won the Best Innovator Award
- Zoya Ansari, aged 7, who won the Emerging Writer Award
- Vidhi Chanyal, aged 15, who won the Young Author Award
- Vihaan Mendiratta, aged 13, who won the Young YouTuber Award
- Rhythm Khokher, aged 15, who won the Dance Superstar Award
- Aaima Khan, aged 9, who won the Versatile Bright Star Award
- Advik Mittal, aged 9, who won the Powerhouse Performer Award.
- Mitali Peecha, aged 11, who won the High Flier Award
The Inspire Awards 2023 is a new initiative from the British Youth International College (BYITC), which was founded in 2015 by Glasgow-based academic and educator Dr Rashmi Mantri to help young people learn and improve their abilities in maths.
In total, 37 awards were given out and after the awards, the winners, their families, judges and all other attendees, were treated to dinner at nearby German Donner Kebab, one of the sponsors of the event.
“I am so proud of all these marvellous young people and the range of abilities in the room is truly humbling. We had so many high-quality entrants that the judges had a very tricky job picking the winners.
“We wanted to create a special night to celebrate diversity and inclusion and recognise young people from all backgrounds who are making all of our futures’ brighter by learning and excelling in whatever they choose to do.
“We’ve had everything from solar powered fans to content creators on YouTube and outstanding singers and dancers, not to mention the STEM stars. Well done to everyone who won as you have set the bar very high for next year’s awards.” said BYITC’s Dr Rashmi Mantri.
Ojas, who attends St Patrick’s Primary School, started learning cricket at the age of five, joined the Accies Cricket Club at eight and started playing competitive cricket. Last year, elected captain of his team, in matches conducted by Western District Cricket Union, he won best bowler and best batsman awards of his club. Ojas’s ambition is to be part of the National Cricket Team.
Aadi, who attends Mosshead Primary School, Bearsden, has been an inspiration for many kids for his biking/cycling skills and hiking / Mountain climbing, at the age of 4 he completed a 33 km bike ride from Glasgow to Loch Lomond, and has climbed a Munro, Ben Lomond at age of 5, and has undertaken a great deal of hiking and biking.
Namra, who attends Mearns Primary school, is a coder, and part of the Dress code club. She is very enthusiastic about coding and runs a lunch time school coding club. On International Women’s Day she, along with her Coding club friends, presented their project at a Women Tech Maker Scotland conference at the University of Glasgow.
Her main expertise is in Scratch but she has also undertaken a mini project using Micro Bot to create badges and creativity on T-shirts. Her aim is to inspire other girls and raise awareness about Computer Science and Coding in the world of tech and close the gender gap in technology.
Zoya, who attends Knightswood Primary School, is a creative youngster who loves writing short stories and also commits her day-to-day experiences in a diary. She has been writing stories since she was 6 years old.
Vidhi, who attends St. Luke’s High School,wrote her first novel when she was 12 years old, We Walked Faster, an emotional Victorian era tale, and has written several more novels throughout the years, all of them exploring different time periods and plots. Vidhi’s poem, ‘The Graveyard’ was published in 2021 as part of “The Big Poetry Party – A Celebration of Verse.”
Vidhi’s fourth novel Arise has been submitted for The Bath Novel Award 2023. An historical fiction and fantasy story set during the harrowing Salem Witch Trials. Her writing is characterised by its creativity, depth, and originality. She has a unique voice and perspective that sets her writing apart from others. Her work has impressed both her peers and her teachers.
Vihaan, who attends High School of Glasgow, may be only 13 but he has his own YouTube channel, VM Studios and over 11,000 subscribers from all over the world. He started it just 3 years ago and learned how to edit and make his own videos. Some of his videos have over 900,000 views and 7,600 likes.
His passion began by making dinosaur videos, where he managed to attract thousands, and even a million dino-lovers, who chat regularly with Vihaan, provide opinions and support the videos he makes.
Rhythm is a dancer who has been dancing since she was 3 years old. She attends St. Ninian’s High School and is currently studying the Indian classical dance form – Bharatnatyam at the Abhinaya dance academy.
She has reached Grade 7 of Bharatnatyam, having completed Grade 1 to 6 at the Oriental Fine Arts Academy of London (OFAAL). As well as Bharatnatyam, Rhythm is also accomplished in other dance styles such as Bollywood and jazz. Rhythm is also studying Hindustani classical singing and guitar.
Aaima, who attends Merrylee Primary School, loves reading books and discussing them with friends at school and at her local library. Sometimes she practices reading them to camera, since she has ambitions to become a YouTuber where she will review books she likes. Aaima also enjoys writing stories and poems of her own, which she recites to friends and family. She is also into caring about the environment and wants to help save our planet earth by learning how the planet works. Her ambition is to write about this to teach others.
Advik, who attends St. Patricks Primary School, is a multi-talented skilful kid with outstanding results in Sports – Chess, Badminton, Cycling, Maths, Science, Public speaking, Art and creative work He has represented Scotland in multiple occasions at different international events in Chess and is the youngest person in the UK to complete the Supermaths National Abacus Mental Maths Programme. He recently won the International Maths Olympiad.
Ashley Tandon has won a national jewellery design competition inspired by the climate change. S2 pupil Ashley, who attends at Kelvinside Academy, created a pendant representing the earth’s melting ice caps. More than 400 pupils from schools all over Scotland took part in the national Schools Jewellery Design Competition run by City of Glasgow College. Ashley’s winning design was turned into a computer aided design drawing and printed in 3D by the College’s state of the art workshops, before being cast in recycled silver by Vipa Designs Ltd.
Mitali, who attends Kelvinside Academy, won the Scottish chess under p5 competition and is also passionate about dancing. She has taken part successfully in many competitions. Mitali completed Abacus stage 11 level and is consistent and accurate when undertaking complex calculations.
The awards were overseen by a high-profile judging panel including Professor Eleanor Shaw OBE, Associate Principal of the University of Strathclyde, and entrepreneur Dr Poonam Gupta OBE, Chief Executive of PG Paper, an international paper company based in Inverclyde, Scotland.
“I would like to thank all the judges for their time and commitment to the awards and also to the sponsors – Whitebridge Financial Limited, Poddar Care Homes, Dupont Associates and Solicitors, and German Donner Kebab who were kind enough to invite all attendees to its Leith restaurant for dinner afterwards.
“I have seen first-hand how achievement in learning and skills can fill young people with confidence and show them how amazing they really are. Through BYITC, we have helped thousands of students excel in maths, English, programming and cyber security.” Said Dr Mantri.
Leader of the Scottish Labour Party and Member of the Scottish Parliament, Anas Sarwar, said: “It is a great privilege to welcome all of these high-achieving young people to the Scottish Parliament on this special occasion.
“The Inspire Awards are in themselves an inspirational concept that highlight the outstanding achievements of young people in their chosen specialities across the United Kingdom and I congratulate each and every one of them on their awards.
“I would like to congratulate especially the work of Dr Rashmi Mantri and BYITC in conceiving, organising, and bringing to a magnificent conclusion the Inspire Awards 2023. Dr Rashmi’s is a wonderful achievement for which she deserves high praise.”
Inspired by the success of the College, the BYITC Inspire Awards recognises young ‘Super Achievers’ from all backgrounds who have excelled in fields including the environment, sports, media, art and creativity, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
There were nine categories and 37 prizes in total. The winners were:
ENVIRONMENT
- Global Warming Crusader – Samarth Raghu Badoni, Linlithgow, aged 8, who attends Springfield Primary School, Linlithgow.
- Planet Ranger – Varesh Karthik, Dudley, aged 7, who attends Russell’s Hall Primary School.
- Energy Conservation – Anaya Malpur, Edinburgh, aged 10, who attends ESMS Junior School.
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING & MATHEMATICS (STEM)
- Best Innovator – Namra Sayyed, Glasgow, aged 9, who attends Mearns Primary school.
- Rubik’s Hero – Aarush Naik, Falkirk, aged 10, who attends Kinnaird Primary School.
- Rising Star – Thembalenkosi Cox, London, aged 8, who attends Rockmount Primary.
LANGUAGE & LITERATURE
- Best Orator – Vrati Desai, Leeds, aged 16, who attends The North Halifax Grammar School.
- Emerging writer – Zoya Ansari, Glasgow, aged 7, who attends Knightswood Primary School.
- Young Author – Vidhi Chanyal, Glasgow, aged 15, who attends St. Luke’s High School.
SPORTS
- Chess Maestro – Supratit Banerjee, London, aged 8, who attends Cheap Park Farm Primary Academy.
- Martial Arts Champ – Anoushka Kinalekar, Edinburgh, aged 10, who attends George Watsons College.
- Badminton Champ – Tushara Rajaram, Broxburn, West Lothian, aged 12, who attends Linlithgow Academy.
- Cricket Champ – Ojas Sunil Maniyar, Glasgow, aged 9, who attends St Patrick’s Primary School.
- Adventure Champ – Aadi Chavan, Glasgow, aged 6, who attends Mosshead Primary School, Bearsden.
- Gymnastics Champ – Amber Nayyar, Paisley, aged 10, who attends Todholm Primary School.
CULTURAL & SOCIAL
- Dance Superstar – Rhythm Khokher, Glasgow, aged 15, who attends St. Ninian’s High School.
- Singing Sensation – Riya Kumar, Leicester, aged 9, who attends Krishna Avanti Primary School.
- Best Youth Icon – Iqra Khan, London, aged 13, who attends St. Catherine.
- Super Nova – Yat Lok FUNG, Manchester, aged 8, who attends Oldfield Brow Primary School.
- Shining Star – Mahisha Mayurathan, Middlesbrough, aged 11, who attends Archibald Primary School.
- Best Performer – Dhyaana Haria, London, aged 10, who attends Glebe Primary School.
MEDIA
- Young YouTuber – Vihaan Mendiratta, Glasgow, aged 13, who attends High school of Glasgow.
- Young Influencer – Aashnah Bedi, London, aged 14, who attends The Green School for Girls
- Young Role Model – Tharani Maria Somanathan, Sutton, aged 13 who attends Sutton High School.
ART AND CREATIVITY
- Creative Designer – Ashley Tandon, Glasgow, aged 13, who attends Kelvinside Academy.
- Master Chef & Best Bookworm – Eashna Chackravarthy, Birmingham, aged 6, who attends Acocks Green Primary School.
ACADEMICS
- Versatile Achiever – Krithik Gopinath, Cambridge, aged 10, who attends Godmanchester Community Academy.
- Rising Superstar – Alexander-George Rusu, Birmingham, aged 5, Mere Green Primary School
- Master Achiever – Arjun Kapoor, Slough, aged 7, who attends Castleview School.
- Whiz Kid – Jitendriya Dhinesh, Larbert, aged 7, who attends Kinnaird Primary School.
Share your problem-solving and decision-making skills
ALL ROUNDERS
- Yoga Champion – Ishwar Vishwanath Sharma, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent, aged 13, who attends Whitgift School.
- Young Philanthropist – Jevindu Senyuth, Newcastle Upon Tyne, aged 5 who attends Darras Hall Primary School.
- Young Trailblazer – Taran Vignesh, Edinburgh, aged 9, who attends Kirkliston Primary School.
- High Flier – Mitali Peecha, Glasgow, aged 11, who attends Kelvinside Academy.
- Powerhouse Performer – Advik Mittal, Glasgow, aged 9, who attends St. Patricks Primary School.
- Wonder Kid – Vishruth Sai Keshettivar, Basingstoke, aged 9, who attends Oakridge Junior School.
- Young explorer – Eivaan S Lamba, Jersey, aged 7, who attends St. Saviour Primary School.
The other award judges were Professor Bill Buchanan OBE, Professor of Applied Cryptography at Edinburgh Napier University; Rohini Sharma Joshi OBE, Diversity and Inclusion Consultant; Derek Timpany, Education Management Consultant; Jai Aenugu, Founder of Aberdeen-based cyber security consultancy TechForce, and Harminder Berman, a former Arts Development Officer with culture and sports charity, Glasgow Life.
Dr Mantri set up BYITC after using an abacus to teach her son basic arithmetic. The college now runs global franchises, including Dubai and Sri Lanka, and recently launched its first UK franchise in Basingstoke, Hampshire. Further UK franchises are anticipated in the coming months.
To find out more about the awards and the stories of each individual winner, visit the BYITC Inspire Awards 2023 page.
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