Young people were today honoured for their exceptional contributions to Manx culture, language and the community.
The North American Manx Association (NAMA) presents awards each year to under 25-year-olds nominated for their creativity, language skills and community involvement.
The tradition dates back to 1979, the millennium of Tynwald, when NAMA established the awards.
Leslie Hanson, President of the World Manx Association, and Professor Ronald Barr, Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Education and Children, judged nominations.
Geoff Corkish MBE MLC, Member of the Education and Children, welcomed guests to the awards ceremony at the Barrool Suite.
He said:
‘The young people receiving awards today should be proud of their achievements. They have achieved recognition through their talent, hard work, commitment and resilience – qualities the Island needs in abundance as it faces the future.
‘The Island is blessed to have so many young people excelling in the arts and their native language and giving so much time back to the community, all while undertaking their studies.’
The award winners received specially minted silver medallions.
Winners are:
Manx music: Daniel Quayle, Ballakermeen High School
A talented singer, musician and composer, Daniel, 17, has won numerous accolades at the Manx Music Festival, co-hosts Manx Radio’s Jamys Jeheiney (James on Friday) programme with James Harrison, takes part in the Bree (Manx for ‘vitality’) education programme for Manx music and dance and recently taught Manx tunes to people from other nations at the International Celtic Congress. He is the organ scholar at St George’s Church, Douglas, and belongs to an as-yet-unnamed Manx music group with friends.
Arts and crafts portraying Manx life/culture: Richard Gawne and Alyssa Bridson, Ballakermeen High School
For their art GCSE, the students, both 16, produced impressive work featuring Douglas’s life and its quayside.
Manx language: Wilf Hewson, Queen Elizabeth II High School
Fluent in Manx since primary school, Wilf, 16, is studying for an A-level equivalent in the language. He has taught football using his native tongue via Club Spoyrt and is assisting the Department of Education and Children’s Manx language unit to record material for learners. He is writing a book in Manx about local birdlife.
Manx culture (under 18): Harry Kelly, Castle Rushen High School
Harry, 14, lives at Cregneash, where he tends his own flock of Loaghtan sheep on the family farm, which employs traditional farming methods, and he helps show off the traditional Manx way of life to visitors. He has studied Manx and helps in the preparations for Hop-tu-Naa when it’s celebrated annually at Cregeash.
Manx culture (over 18): No nominations
Manx culture (group of under-25s): Fraser Rowe, Callum Rowe, Owen Williams and Lukas Hayhurst, Castle Rushen High School
The four, aged 13 to 15, are involved in the school folk group, which won several categories of the Manx Folk Awards 2015 and perform separately as a folk ensemble as well as excelling individually on a wide variety of instruments. The boys are also members of the Bree ‘supergroup’.
Manx community (work with voluntary organisations etc): Adele Harris, Castle Rushen High School
Adele joined the Southern Befrienders as part of a school intergenerational scheme and has been a dedicated volunteer, helping to run a basic cookery course, where she showcased her own recipes, and visiting Southlands resource centre in Port Erin weekly to chat with residents.
Manx community (overcoming disability and contributing to community): Reece Moffitt, Isle of Man College of Further and Higher Education
Despite having Duchenne muscular dystrophy and being reliant on a wheelchair for mobility, Reece, 17, is excelling on a BTEC course in information technology, has taken up power chair football, which he plays with spirit and determination, and is taking part, with friends, in a sponsored walk along the old railway line from Douglas to Peel to raise money for the Pahar Trust.
Hon Phil Gawne MHK, a fluent Manx speaker, presented the awards for the most progress in Manx to Aerin Roberts and Tosh Teare, Queen Elizabeth II High School. Each received £50.
Closing the event, the Hon Clare Christian, President of Tynwald said:
‘This is an exciting year for Manx culture with the Island taking the lead with Kernow (Cornwall) at the Lorient Festival and no-one can fail to be aware of the how vibrant the Manx language, music and dance scenes are at the moment, with new material being produced all the time.
‘So it is wonderful in this vibrant environment to have more young people embracing these aspects of Manx culture and reaching the high standards which are required to win the NAMA awards.
‘As well as these artistic expressions of our culture, recognition is given to those who contribute to our community, an equally important aspect of Manx life in a world where there is a tendency for people to communicate electronically rather than face to face.
‘Congratulations to all our winners. NAMA must be delighted that they have played a part in this flourishing of interest in our heritage since they first presented these awards 35 years ago and our thanks must go to them for continuing to support and encourage our young people in this way.’
