This year, the Awards team are calling on young people who are trying to improve their neighbourhoods – especially if they live in tough surroundings.

We want to make sure Philip Lawrence Awards is reaching into high-crime areas and we’re asking you and your projects to tell us about the ideas you have to improve your communities. We also want to involve young people in custody to help give them a positive chance to change their futures and improve their home towns.

This is why we have brought in Nacro to run the Awards and PLAnet. Nacro is a crime reduction charity with a huge network of projects around England and Wales, and further links throughout the UK. Their projects are set up to help young people stay out of trouble and make the most of their opportunities.

We want more of you to get involved and put forward nominations to win an award. So we will be calling on you to get more involved on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and on this website. We’d like you to feel that you can meet with others, in person and online, doing similar work all round the country, and get inspired.

Nominations will open soon so watch this space.

Frances Lawrence said:

“The Philip Lawrence Awards scheme provides a platform for young people to share their vision of a better world and celebrates their achievements. We want to involve those serving custodial sentences because it … gives them a chance to discover the value of helping other people, and that in doing so their own lives also can be enhanced.”