Youth Work Excellence Awards 2025
The Youth Work Excellence Awards are an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the breadth of outstanding youth work projects, youth workers and those involved in youth work across Wales.
The latest edition of the Awards recognises excellence within the following categories:
Demonstrating excellence in partnership planning and delivery at a local level: recognising excellence in collaborative youth work delivered through strong local partnerships.
Demonstrating excellence in partnership planning and delivery at a regional or national level: celebrating projects working across local authority boundaries.
Digital innovation: highlighting the creative use of digital approaches to support reach, quality or impact.
Equality and Diversity in a youth work setting: recognising excellence in ensuring youth work opportunities are accessible and inclusive.
Leadership: recognising exemplary leaders who have positively impacted the lives of young people and inspired others to do the same.
Outstanding youth worker: recognising an individual who has had an exceptional impact on the lives of young people.
Outstanding volunteer in a youth work setting: highlighting the contribution of a volunteer who has made an exceptional contribution to youth work in Wales.
Rising star: celebrating emerging talent in the youth work sector.
Welsh language innovation: recognising projects or services that evidence innovation in developing youth work provision through the medium of Welsh.
Judging panels met earlier in 2026 to consider each nomination received. The finalists selected by these panels represent the strength and impact of youth work across Wales, and highlight how youth workers, projects and organisations across Wales create safe, supportive spaces and deliver meaningful experiences that positively shape young people’s lives.
Some of the finalists include
GISDA’s ‘Lle Da’ project, a partnership-led initiative to support vulnerable young people to move towards independent living and sustainable employment.
The Media Academy Cymru-led ‘Positive Masculinity Initiative: helping young men explore identity, relationships and wellbeing through innovative, trauma-informed approaches, and
‘Spectrwm Youth Forum’ in Rhondda Cynon Taf: a youth-led initiative empowering neurodivergent young people to share their experiences and influence more inclusive practice.
Further information
You can read more about the stories behind each of these finalists and the exceptional work they are delivering on GOV.Wales.
Winners will be revealed online during youth work week, taking place from 23 to 30 June 2026.