Young Nottinghamshire creatives crowned winners at awards night

The winners were awarded as part of this year’s Young Creative Awards, which each year seek to honour the talent of the city’s young creatives.

Created by charity Young Creatives Nottingham, the highly-competitive creative competition is open to students and young adults aged 11 to 24-years-old who live, work or study in Nottinghamshire, with this year marking the awards’ 18th year.

Entry categories span the whole creative spectrum, with entrants able to submit their work across photography; music; film; fashion and textiles; creative writing; dance; design and architecture; animation and digital media; graphic design and visual arts.

This year’s awards saw the winning young creatives battle it out against 475 entrants, before being crowned at a glittering awards ceremony at Nottingham Playhouse that was officially opened by Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, Veronica Pickering and hosted by BBC radio presenter and TV producer, Frances Finn.

This year’s Young Creative Awards winners by age and category were:

Animation and Digital Media

●      Elliott Groom, 11-15

●      Libby Taylor, 16-18

●      Calista Athaillah, 19-24

Creative Writing

●      Salman Akhelarab, 11-15

●      Ash Randall, 16-18

●      Ray Sharma, 19-24

Dance

●      Leia Aloysius, 11-15

●      Georgia Palmer, 16-18

●      Olivia Demetriou, 19-24

Design and Architecture

●      Dylan Spence, 11-15

●      Alesha Rafiq- Williams, 16-18

●      Aylla Gill, 19-24

Graphic Design

●      Jessica Bull, 16-18

●      Kitty Ballard, 19-24

Fashion and Textiles

●      Isla Bailey, 11-15

●      Lexa Lambert, 16-18

●      Bronwyn Crooks, 19-24

Film

●      Kieran Donnelly, Cam Wilson, Isaac Savage and Zak Rothera-Oxley, 16-18

●      Jack Campling, 19-24

Music

●      Lourdes Amamio, 11-15

●      Ehren Doherty, 16-18

●      Jack Fong, 19-24

Photography

●      Matipa Gweshe, 11-15

●      Liza Sternberg, 16-18

●      Sam Williamns, 19-24

Visual Arts

●      Emily Higgs, 11-15

●      Danny Abbott, 16-18

●      Imarni Boyer-Nugent, 19-24

Nigel Cooke, chair of the Young Creatives Nottingham, said: “Each year I’m always in awe of the calibre of young creative talent we have right here in our city, and this year was no exception.

"Each and every one of our entrants should feel incredibly proud of their efforts.

“As we honour this year’s winners, we’d like to say a huge congratulations to all our Young Creatives of 2026, and a massive thank you for making this year’s awards so special.”

The evening featured performances from Nottingham Girls Academy Harmony Choir, Nottingham Music Service Voice Connect Choir, Nottingham College dancers and students from Nottingham Emmanuel School who shared a poem they had collectively written following Wordplay workshops led by Bridie Squires.

The evening also saw Lord Mayor of Nottingham Coun Cheryl Barnard join The Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire in celebrating the creative achievements of all entrants.

Mrs Pickering, said: “The creativity, imagination and dedication on display were truly inspiring and a real source of civic pride for our city and county.

“Initiatives such as these play a vital role in nurturing the next generation, giving young people the confidence and opportunity to develop their talents and contribute to the cultural life of our communities.”

The headline partner of this year’s Young Creative Awards was ChalleNGe, leaders of Nottingham’s cultural education partnership.

Cathy Mahmood, leader of ChalleNGe said: “From local arts festivals to summer arts pop ups, to our work with schools through the Cultural Rucksack programme, and the Voice Box project that amplifies young voices – ChalleNGe and Young Creatives Nottingham will continue to work together to champion creativity for all young people across the city.”

The Young Creative Awards are supported by a number of category partners and sponsors; Archway Learning Trust, Confetti College, David S Stewart OBE DL, FABRIC, maber, Nottingham College, Nottingham Music Service, Nottingham Trent University, Potter Clarkson and STENCIL.

Additional supporting contributions from It’s in Nottingham and Ken Wilkins Print Ltd.

This year, Victoria Centre supported the awards’ exhibition partner.

To find out more about Young Creatives Nottingham, visit youngcreativeawards.org/about-us/