A teenage girl whose work helped a foodbank in Redbridge has won an award at an event celebrating the achievements of young people in the borough.
Jessica Ryan was announced as the winner of The Recorder and Barkingside & Redbridge Rotary Club’s Young Citizen Award at Redbridge Town Hall on March 10.
The annual event shines a spotlight on the outstanding achievements of young people in the borough aged between five and 25.
The awards were presented by Peter McCafferty, from the Rotary club, and Ilford Recorder reporter Olivia Carter.
Jessica, 17, is a pupil at Trinity Catholic High School in Woodford Green where she has led the way in fundraisers and more that ultimately saw her named as the overall winner.
Alongside organising a Charity Week for her school and supporting Woodford Green-based charity Haven House, the 17-year-old organised a two-week donation drive for Redbridge Foodbank.
More than 650kg of food was collected as a result of her efforts, enough to make emergency food parcels for 59 local people in need.
Jessica said: “I feel really inspired by everyone in the room. Everyone here has done such amazing things with their time.
“I can’t wait to keep on going, keep on volunteering.”
This year’s awards saw eight nominations for candidates aged between nine and 18.
Michael Cox, digital audience and content editor at the Ilford Recorder, said: "It is always a pleasure to be involved with this award that allows us to celebrate and acknowledge the brilliant efforts by the young people of Redbridge.
“Congratulations to all those who were nominated. They should all be very proud of what they do.”
Young Citizen of the Year 2026 joint runners up
This year saw a joint result for runners up to the overall award. Brother-and-sister Muhammad Sameer and Hafsa Tehseen accepted their awards and certificates from Mayor Cllr Beverley Brewer for their ‘Kids Teaching Kids: Origami Animals’ classes.
At nine and ten, the duo has delivered 12 workshops at two libraries in the borough to around 120 children aged between eight and ten, teaching them how to try their hand at the paper craft.
They even demonstrated their skills after being tasked to create something with just one sheet of paper, proudly producing a hopping origami frog and a pull-tab letter.
Young Citizen of the Year 2026 nominees
· Mohammad-Abbas Ahadi, 16, Children’s Lego Club at Fullwell Cross Library
· Afshan Naweed Akram, 15, volunteer CoderDojo at Redbridge Central Library
· Vedanti Gohil, 17, lead CoderDojo volunteer mentor at Redbridge Central Library
· Jamal Ahmad, 18, Redbridge Youth Council
· Mudassaar Nadeem, 17, Redbridge Youth Council volunteer
· Redbridge Ambassadors of Faith and Belief
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