At the Steven Brown and Sunday Mail Young Scot Awards 2018 a 12 year-old from Leith was recognised as the winner of the Community Award, sponsored by the Scottish Government.
Joseph Cox was honoured for putting his great idea into action.
He set up a charity, Socks for the Streets late last year after seeing the number of rough sleepers in his area growing, he began collecting donations for them.
Between November 2017 and January 2018 Joseph collected and distributed over 2,000 pairs of new socks to homeless people as well as sleeping bags, gloves, blankets and clean underwear.
Marking the finale of Scotland’s Year of Young People 2018, the Young Scot Awards is the biggest and best celebration of young people and their incredible achievements. The Awards, now in their thirteenth year, showcased the incredible stories of inspiring young people across 14 categories including Community, Diversity, Enterprise, Unsung Hero and this year’s additional award of Year of Young People Champion of the Year.
The nearly 3,000 guests who attended the Awards on Friday night were entertained by performances from singer Max George, and a rendition of the Greatest Showman from students of the GAMTA Performing Arts School.
Community winner Joseph Cox
The Awards were hosted by comedian and Love Island funny man Iain Stirling, with famous faces joining the young people on the red carpet to celebrate Scotland’s amazing young heroes in style – with Love Island’s Laura Anderson, actor Christy O’Donnell and YouTube sensation Dodie, and many more in attendance.
Joseph said: “This is an amazing surprise, I’m over the moon. I now have so much more confidence to go to other schools around the UK and tell them about Socks for the Streets and encourage other young people like me to get involved in making a difference.”
Louise Macdonald, Chief Executive of Young Scot, said: “The Awards celebrate and reward Scotland’s finest and most inspiring young people. A massive congratulations Joseph, you have made your community so proud. We have been blown away by the incredible stories of courageous young people across the country. These Awards have been a fantastic way to round off the Year of Young People 2018!”
Brendan McGinty, Editor of the Sunday Mail, said: “It is a privilege for the Sunday Mail to salute our young Scots. The Awards are always a calendar highlight. The quality of the finalists continues to be outstanding, proving the future of our nation is in safe hands.”
For further information visit youngscotawards.com
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
