Nathanial-Elliot, who is currently taking his A-Level examinations at Loughborough Grammar School, was selected as a finalist in the Lord-Lieutenant of Leicestershire’s Young Person of the Young Awards 2024.

The locally renowned awards are designed to showcase and celebrate the achievements of inspiring young people aged 13 to 19 across Leicestershire. The four categories; Young Person of Courage, Young Volunteer, Young Leader, and Young Artist, celebrate the very best examples of effort and achievement.

Nathanial was nominated and shortlisted for the Young Person of Courage of the Year, which is awarded to an individual who has overcome personal barriers to achieve success, made a stand against bullying or racism and demonstrated a life-saving act of bravery. Nathanial’s nomination recognised his challenging early life circumstances and adoption from Uganda, being awarded a bursary to study at Loughborough Grammar School and his outstanding dedication and commitment to a number of local and national community campaigns.

Nathanial was involved in two national YouCanAdopt campaigns, during which he discussed and highlighted the transformative impact that adoption has on children and families. He also played a part in the national MakeAStand social media campaign in partnership with Leicestershire Police, which encourages young people to be an upstander in situations of anti-social behaviour, whilst challenging the stigma around reporting incidents to the police.

Nathanial has been a police cadet with Leicestershire Police for almost six years, representing the police force to help strengthen the relationship between local communities, and has also been involved with the Edge Foundation Youth Network, sharing his insight and thoughts to the organisation about their policies on education reform. These are then presented to the Children’s Commissioner, other think tanks and the UK Government.

As an adoptee, Nathanial has worked with The Collabor8 Family Adoption Links Young Person’s Council, sharing his experiences of the adoption services available to families and giving advice on how more support could be provided or tailored to young adoptees.

His nomination for the award meant that Nathanial’s exceptional contributions to the local community have not gone unnoticed and he attended a special awards ceremony at Leicester County Hall last month during which he was presented with a certificate.

Nathanial said: “Whilst I didn’t win in my category, it was an amazing experience to hear inspirational stories of young individuals my age from across the county. I also had the opportunity to talk to major decision-makers of the County Council and Lord-Lieutenant’s Office.”

“As an advocator for youth opportunities and improving the experiences of young adults, I’ve had the amazing opportunity of getting more in-depth knowledge of how the education system works and what could be done to improve it for young people.”

Mrs Helen Foster, Head of Loughborough Grammar School said: “We are absolutely delighted to celebrate Nathanial being shortlisted for this wonderful award. Despite his challenging early-life circumstances, Nathanial not only continues to achieve, but gives so much back to our community. He is truly inspiring. We are very proud to have had Nathanial as part of our vibrant student community and wish him all the success in his future.”

Looking ahead after his A Levels, Nathanial is intending to study for a degree in Social Work, followed by Masters in Social Policy; his intention being to work in youth development, helping to improve the experiences of young people across the UK.