Child of Wales Awards part 2
Part 2 of our coverage of the Child of Wales Awards 2024
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00:00Welcome back. If you've just joined us, we're celebrating the remarkable young people at
00:07the 2024 Child of Wales Awards.
00:10And there's still plenty more on the way. The stories of courage and determination keep
00:14coming when we can't wait to introduce you to more of these inspiring young heroes.
00:21My name is Megan. I'm 11 years old and I've won the Young Sporting Hero Award. So I was
00:27four years old when I actually started doing jujitsu. I was kind of born into it because
00:32my sister and my father did it before I was born. I always was itching to get on the mats
00:36when I was younger than four.
00:38I'm Cath. I'm Megan's mum and together with my husband, my other daughter and a great
00:44team of coaches, we run Satori Jujitsu in Llanelli. Megan is the only junior fighter in Great
00:50Britain Jujitsu.
00:51I teach three classes before I train. Then I do BJJ class, then I do the adults class.
00:58It's a good experience because I'm teaching people my age and younger. So I get to socialise
01:04a lot as well.
01:05My dad is my trainer. He's been training me for all my life, basically.
01:10Playing with dad is fun, but also can be frustrating, maybe sometimes. Obviously, I have to live
01:15with him as well. So if I do something wrong, then I've got the whole day to stay with him
01:20and stuff.
01:21Over the past eight years, Megan has achieved more than 40 medals in UK BJJ and Jujitsu
01:28competitions. Megan has been the torchbearer, going out and testing the waters for the Great
01:35Britain youth team as it enters the fray in 2025. She has proved herself committed and
01:41determined. And with the blessings of GB Jujitsu, she entered a competition in Europe as the
01:47sole entrant from GB. She came back with silver and gold.
01:52So in sports Jujitsu, just this year, I've won multiple medals. So I've won two in the
01:56Flanders Open in Belgium for GB and Wales. And I've also won the European Cup and I've
02:04won a gold for that in sports Jujitsu. I would recommend Jujitsu because it's good for socialising
02:11and also being able to protect yourself in different situations.
02:16I see myself in the future, hopefully getting a gold in the world and hopefully Jujitsu
02:23going into the Olympics so I can do that as well.
02:28It's very, very amazing. I've read some of the stories of the children. They're just
02:32incredible human beings, to be honest, what they've done. So their feats and some bravery
02:36and it's incredible. And yeah, it's really humbling actually, to be honest. And I've
02:39done lots of events over the last, say, eight months, some amazing events, but this is probably
02:43the one I'm most nervous of being and also the most privileged to be at. I've been looking
02:47forward to this for such a long time since Blanche asked me to come here. I've been so
02:51looking forward to it in my diary. So nothing was going to stop me from being here tonight.
02:55We had a piece of paper that gave us the outline of all the people that were participating.
03:00And then we read through them and we made a decision for ourselves. And then that went
03:04to the group. And then it was really funny because we all picked the same person anyway.
03:08So that was really nice. And there was no arguing that would happen tomorrow. But
03:12this young individual is an amazing person. You're an educator because of what happened
03:16to your brother. In particular, at the moment, you're advocating for racism education in Welsh
03:23schools. It's something that's already in English schools. Can you tell us about that?
03:26Yeah. But again, what I like about the Welsh idea about being an anti-racist country is that they
03:30have a plan. They put that plan into action. They've given themselves a deadline, which is 2030,
03:35and they're working towards it. Whereas we do do some stuff in England, but we don't have a date
03:39to say when we're going to become an anti-racist country as well. So that, for me, is really
03:44amazing about Wales, like how they always have been for leaders in so many different initiatives
03:49in this country to push the rest of us forward. So I'm looking forward to seeing what they do,
03:53and hopefully they can push England along as well.
03:56So it's a real pleasure to catch up with all the celebrities down on the red carpet,
03:59but I think we can all agree that the real stars tonight are the young people.
04:03And Iona is chatting to just a few of them right now.
04:06Yeah, I saved a boy last year from drowning. He couldn't swim, and I seen that he was struggling,
04:19so I went into the water and saved him, told him to lie on his back and stay calm and to float
04:25like a starfish, and then I carried him to the shore and waited for help to come.
04:30Very impressive. How does it feel that now you're kind of someone who other people look to
04:39to take inspiration from? You're really benefiting other people who are your age?
04:42I'm feeling very happy and proud of myself that I've done that, and I'm glad that other
04:47people are taking inspiration from me. I've made new friends because I found other people
04:52with, and they've got siblings with autism or special needs siblings, and I've been on
05:03loads of trips with young carers, and I've got to see many new things.
05:07It was the Young Sporting Hero Awards, so I was fortunate enough to go and go out to
05:14Trinidad and Tobago last year, and lucky enough to bring back the gold.
05:19Going forward, how do you intend to use your platform? Have you got anything
05:22in mind that you want to do in the next few months?
05:25Well, I'm a CEO for Kidscape, and I want to try and use that to maybe go into schools and give
05:31some talks, especially in my community. I feel like it'd be nice to give back to them and go in,
05:37sort of speak to the young girls and the boys and just talk about my story and show that
05:42there really is a way out.
05:43And this is probably the fifth time I've come to a Child of Wales Awards. Every year I try to
05:47create a different piece of artwork to present to one of the special guests,
05:51which is then getting signed and auctioned, donated at some point on the line.
05:55So it's very exciting to be here.
05:57Obviously art's very unique. That's your whole thing. What have you got here? Do you want to show us?
06:01Today I've made Beverly Knight entirely using lipstick and kisses from my own lips.
06:05So it's entirely love, Beverly Knight. Love it.
06:10We wanted to do something different. We knew that we could have, you know, gone down the
06:14traditional sponsorship route or the traditional auction prize route, but we said, well, why don't
06:18we give the ultimate celebration of unity and love and donate a wedding, which went on bid prior to
06:24this evening. And it's raised over ÂŁ12,500, of which every penny has gone to the charities
06:31Joshua's Wish and the Two Wish Foundation and was split in half for both of them.
06:36Absolutely. And I'm sure there'll be so many children, you know, that they look up to you,
06:40obviously you're online, all the content you're creating and things, but these young children are
06:45inspiring as well. And like, do you know much about the stories coming up tonight?
06:48So I haven't, this year, I haven't been told any of the stories behind the scenes. Last year I knew
06:53quite a few of them. So I was like, this year I want to, I want to be in the moment and take
06:56them all in when they all come out on stage. So I'm really excited to hear a lot of them.
07:00But yeah, these children inspiring, like the rest of us on this content.
07:04No matter what, no matter how many times you fall down, as long as you stand back up,
07:10you'll always be proud of yourself that when you stay down. Like for me, I've had many injuries
07:16over worlds and I've ended up falling down way too many times. But if you don't stand back up,
07:23you'll never know what's on the other side of that line. And for me, it was always worth the thing.
07:29And for all these kids, they've done incredible. And I hope they will carry on
07:34achieving everything they ever dream of because they can all do it. And I'm so proud of all of
07:38them. So Twish is a bereavement charity supporting families who lose a child or young adult under
07:44sudden circumstances. We're an all Wales charity, but very much based here in South Wales.
07:49And we're supporting many, many families during really, really difficult times.
07:52Yeah. And as a charity partner, what was it about the Child of Wales Awards that drew you in?
07:57I think to be part of this event is really special. We have a lot of families with children
08:02ourselves that we support and see children being recognised, which is really, really important.
08:07Often it's the adults and the parents, but to see that tonight, it's going to be really special.
08:12How important do you think the arts are in helping young people overcome challenges
08:15and express themselves?
08:16I think they're hugely important. I've done a number of projects where I've worked with
08:20sort of underprivileged kids through, you know, working with songwriting. And I know that
08:25actually, you know, music is a thing that connects everybody. Everybody's got a music taste
08:29and music that speaks to them. And I know that actually it's such an important thing, you know,
08:35to express, you know, pain and express all sorts of things. And so, yeah, I think it's a real shame
08:40that in this day and age, the arts have really struggled in schools. And I think, you know,
08:44it's such an important thing, you know, for kids. I really do.
08:48Rhys was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at birth through a heel prick test. Devastating news. You
08:54don't know what it is. You don't know what to expect. But when you do your research, you speak
08:58to the consultants. You adapt your life around Rhys to make sure he manages the condition,
09:04does all his nebulisers, he takes all his tablets, he attends all his appointments
09:08to stay well and fit and healthy.
09:10Hi, I'm Rhys and I'm 11 years old. I'm fundraising for Cystic Fibrosis to help kids
09:16going through the condition.
09:19Rhys has spent his birthdays and even New Year in the hospital. And in April of this year,
09:24he spent 22 nights at Noah's Ark Children's Hospital. His treatment was very intense
09:29and he needed over 150 doses of IV antibiotics to beat an infection.
09:34I'm a goalkeeper for Killian Under 11s. I think that sport has really helped me
09:40with like having cystic fibrosis and stuff to do with the fundraising. Like we had all the
09:46people who used to play rugby and all celebrities at the fundraising events we did.
09:51Well, the idea came during COVID and during quarantine and stuff.
09:55The first one, we got loads of shirts signed by like Pele, Messi, Ronaldo,
10:00and we sold them all for a very significant amount. And we raised, what was it, 17,000?
10:0622,000 on the first one.
10:07Yeah. And then on the second one, it was 15,000. And now we're up to 41,000.
10:13I'm incredibly proud of Rhys when he came up with this idea in COVID. It's pretty daunting
10:19to try and organise a gala dinner and he's running around getting all these shirts done and donated.
10:25And it always amazes me how generous people are. We got people involved at the start through
10:31social media when we were going through COVID. We explained what we were trying to do. I asked
10:36for people's help and yeah, personal thanks really. Because I know some people are here today,
10:41James Hook, Shane Williams, Jonathan Davis. Thank you from me and Rhys for supporting this.
10:47It's been a great journey so far and we want it to continue for sure.
10:52It's been a world in the past few years to be able to come into rooms like this.
10:57And I'm presenting the award tonight as well, which is just so special.
11:01And yeah, just to see all the heroic things each of them, it's amazing.
11:08Never would have thought I'd go from Love Island to doing things like this. I'm an ambassador for
11:12Glendora Cancer Charity. And again, that is just another amazing thing.
11:17What are you looking forward to most tonight?
11:18Honestly and truthfully, what I am massively looking forward to is meeting all the winners.
11:24I've met some of them, in fact most of them, but just seeing these phenomenal people.
11:29I know we can all say that people are amazing when they win awards, but these children honestly
11:35are ordinary people, but actually they're extraordinary.
11:39So I'm really looking forward to them being the celebs tonight.
11:45So as the night continues, these young people continue to amaze us
11:48with their strength and generosity.
11:50And we've got even more incredible stories on the way.
11:53Stay with us. We'll be back after the break.