Alongside working towards my Gold Award I helped other young people completing their awards, at different levels, after progressing onto a volunteer arts leader/ artists' assistant during the sessions.

Getting involved with Arts Award is what helped me decide on where I wanted to go with my future in terms of education and eventually career prospects. Being indecisive, I went back and forth between a numbers of options but I had such a great time being involved in creative activities outside of school that it helped me decide.

I then joined the Arts Award Youth Network because I wanted to stretch myself and see how much I could actually achieve. As well as being very motivational for me, I have learnt so much as part of the team, and been given many opportunities that I otherwise would never have come across, or pushed myself to experience. Some of the most enjoyable parts of the Youth Network have been the residential training sessions, where I have developed my skills and learnt important information about working within the arts world. In addition to this, being able to meet and spend time with like-minded creative people has been enlightening and helped me broaden my horizons.

My advice to anyone who is thinking of giving Arts Award a go would be to go ahead! Remember to have fun, and make sure you are getting something out of the experience. There is so much to be gained from engaging in the arts, and Arts Award is an excellent opportunity to do that.

Read more about Gold Arts Award