Young people across Suffolk have done amazing and inspiring things over the past year and here are 30 under 30-year-olds who have been recognised for their triumphs and heroics.
Luke Woolfenden
Ipswich Town star Luke Woolfenden will go down as a legend for a generation of Town fans, being part of a team that went from League One to the Premier League in two seasons.
The 25-year-old played a major part in getting Town to the Premier League, making 89 appearances in all competitions over the past two seasons.
He is a local lad and was a huge part in the team's current success.
Jack Gooding
Jack Gooding, 24, was one of just 112 people in the world to live with gastrointestinal neuroectodermal tumour, a rare form of cancer.
Despite this, Jack enjoyed life, and had a passion for drag racing, saying it was a "second home" for him.
Sadly, Jack has passed away from his illness.
Lauren Whiting
Lauren Whiting has raised over £11,700 for the Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust after taking part in her first London Marathon this year.
The 24-year-old said her motivation was to raise money for the hospital that performed life-saving surgeries on both her parents.
She completed the marathon in 4 hours and 50 minutes.
Sophie Peskett
Any of the women's players would be worthy of this, with them all inspiring a new generation with their historic game at Portman Road last season.
Sophie Peskett takes this spot, however, after being named player of the season for the league, and winning player of the match in the Portman Road fixture.
The 21-year-old has had a good start to the season too, getting a goal in the teams opening fixture against Oxford United.
Callum Wilkinson
Callum Wilkinson, 27, was one of three local athletes to represent Team GB at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games this summer.
He competed in the 20km men's race walk after being selected after he broke the national record for the 10,000m race walk.
The 2016 World Junior Champion is currently the UK's number one in the sport.
Teigan Rose Bayliss
Teigan Rose Bayliss, the face behind charity TeiganSmile, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when she was young after being kissed on the lips as a baby.
Since this diagnosis, her and her family have raised thousands of pounds for the charity through various events, festivals and fundraisers.
Martin Dimitrov
Martin Dimitrov from Ipswich has had a great year in kickboxing, winning a World Kickboxing Organisation championship belt last year and securing two European titles.
The 19-year-old started the sport when he was 14 in Bulgaria and in that time has gone from toying with becoming a professional in the sport to thoughts about packing it in, but he has stuck with it.
He is also going to study law at the University of Suffolk in September.
Nandi Bushell
The 14-year-old musician seems to go from strength-to-strength. She has performed with some of the worlds biggest bands including Foo Fighters and Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello.
She has also performed on some of the biggest stages in the UK, including at the Platinum Jubilee celebrations at Buckingham Palace, Wembley Stadium and Download Festival.
Lydia Walmsley
Lydia, 22 from Ipswich, created history this year, becoming the first female to gain a podium finish in the Mini Challenge JCW Championships.
She has been racing since she was 14 and made history in Norfolk by gaining the podium finish, live on ITV4.
She has also done all this with a smaller team, having just family members and friends as her backroom team for her team name - Lydia Walmsley Racing.
James Horswill
James Horswill, 18 from Stowmarket underwent a "life-threatening" experience in September 2023 when he needed heart surgery.
His heart had a faulty pump but the surgery went well and he is able to "enjoy life to the fullest".
James, who studied at Suffolk Rural, was given the arboriculture student of the year accolade in June at his college's awards evening, something he said he was "shocked, thankful and grateful" to win.
Rob Welham
Back to the racing, Rob Welham from Ipswich broke a 13-year record in his sport, the F1000 Championships, by getting the fastest lap time on the International Circuit.
The 22-year-old is still currently leading the championship race after securing some great finishes on different circuits around the country.
Bridie Burn
Bridie, the owner and founder of The Nerd Hut, has had a fantastic rise with her business.
Starting in Microshops in Ipswich, she moved to a vacant unit in Sailmakers Shopping Centre in the summer last year which allowed her to expand further and offer more services.
She also won a national award in November 2023 for best gaming and pop culture shop in the Southern Enterprise Awards 2023.
Brianna
16-year-old Brianna performed on BBC Children in Need in November last year by dancing with Strictly Come Dancing professional Nadiya Bychkova.
Brianna was born with a rare genetic condition called Cat Eye Syndrome and underwent open heart surgery at just one week old.
Nadiya said Brianna was a "very special young lady" and she was "honoured" to dance with her on BBC tv.
Nathan Morton
Nathan started his chef career in 2022 working at a care home in Ipswich. Since then though, he has gone on to get a job at a Michelin star restaurant in London.
The 18-year-old was put forward in a cooking competition which led to a trial shift at Petrus by Gordon Ramsay which he impressed at and was offered a job.
He said: "When I was offered the job, I was over the moon."
Harrison Nott
Entrepreneur Harrison Nott, 14, has set up a TikTok business and can now make as much as £3,000 a day.
He is doing all this while also balancing school and playing for the England Squash Aspire team in Ipswich.
Each day, Harrison completes more than 200 orders, starting early before school.
Sofiia Usmanova
Sofiia Usmanova, originally from Ukraine, emerged triumphant in two categories at the renowned Ealing Festival of Music, Dance, Speech and Drama.
The Royal Hospital School student clinched first place title in the solo class, while also securing the bronze medal in the exhibition category.
She was also honoured with the Colchester Rotary Club's Young Musician of the Year prize.
Sofiia has previously won several competitions and earned numerous performance diplomas.
Henry Lungley
Henry Lungley has been described as one of the "best in the country" for clay pigeon shooting.
The teenager was representing the U21s England team when he was 16 and despite coming up against older competitors, he came out on top winning overall junior winner.
In the future, Henry has his sights set on Olympic gold medals.
Keelan Waldock
Keelan Waldock has been the owner and founder of Bwownies for a number of years,
He currently has a spot at Suffolk Food Hall near Ipswich, and his business has grown in popularity over a number of years.
In September last year, he was nationally praised by former Apprentice star Tom Skinner, who described his brownies as "the absolute governor" before saying they were "different class" and "the best brownies I have ever had in my life."
Daniel Jillings
Daniel from Lowestoft has been campaigning tirelessly since he for years to have a GCSE in British Sign Language (BSL).
In December, the Government announced that a BSL GCSE course would be introduced, with the teenager saying: "Both deaf and hearing students will have the opportunity to study BSL as a GCSE, which puts BSL on an equal footing with other languages and hopefully will mean that deaf students feel less isolated in school."
Fabio Wardley
The 29-year-old professional boxer has continued to become one of the biggest fighters in the sport. He is the current British, Commonwealth and WBO European title holder.
A big Ipswich Town fan, Wardley's next fight is a rematch against Frazer Clarke on October 12, after a thrilling fight in March this year at the O2 Arena.
Scarlett Fountain
Scarlett, along with her mum Shelley, completed the Midnight Walk, run by St Elizabeth Hospice and Zest in May.
Her brother Mason passed away in July last year after battling a brain tumour for 13 years.
More than £100,000 was raised from the walk.
Josh Stokes
The 20-year-old from Shotley has had quite the last couple of seasons in professional football.
The youngster started out at AFC Sudbury before moving to Aldershot Town, where his performances earnt him a move to Championship side Bristol City.
He is currently on loan at Cambridge United where he will play for the 24/25 season.
Charlie Pittman
Charlie Pittman from Holbrook has made a name for himself down under after appearing on The Voice Australia, reaching the final four.
Since his appearance on the show he has been recognised around the country and has been touring in Australia.
In March he signed a record deal with Island Records Australia, who also manage Tame Impala and Dean Lewis.
Ella Cooke
Ella Cooke from Ipswich has had a successful last couple of years in pageanting.
She has been crowned previously won the Ipswich, Suffolk and Great Britain titles and in December flew to Orlando to compete in the International Junior Miss competition.
She walked away from this competition with multiple awards.
Jake & Logan Croarkin
The two brothers set up a fundraiser in February to raise money for Leukaemia UK after their father, Luke, was diagnosed with it in November 2023.
Luke passed away in April this year. In July, the boys' mum, Kirsty, received a call from the Just Giving team who said that Jake and Logan had been shortlisted as the platform's Young Fundraisers of the Year award.
Their fundraiser which is still running, is up to £9,347.
Ethan Jones & Chloe Elvin
This counts as two separate entries, but Ethan and Chloe both feature also after they decided to raise money for Cancer Research UK after their fathers were both diagnosed with the condition.
The pair took part in a 5km obstacle course in Trinity Park outside Ipswich on June 16.
Their donation page has raised £3,020.
Chloe Dozzell
Chloe's business Another Bowl has become more and more successful, so much so that they were able to move out of their former premises into a bigger unit in under a year.
Another Bowl, situated in St Peter's Street has seen their Acai Bowls, juices and toasts prove to be a popular hit with Ipswich residents, with Ms Dozzell saying: " It seems like the whole of Ipswich wanted healthy food!"
Keigan Curtis
Keigan Curtis from Ipswich was diagnosed with Stickler Syndrome when he was 13, a rare disorder. He has lost vision in his right eye and only has a small amount of peripheral vision in his left.
Despite this, Keigan has a dream of seeing Japan and going to the country before losing full vision with the hopes of seeing Mount Fuji, Hiroshima and Tokyo.
£4,289 has been raised to help him achieve his dream and go to Japan.
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