Archaeology award for Leeds boy

William Fakes will receive the accolade at Saturday’s meeting of the Leeds Young Archaeologists’ Club (YAC) at Middleton Park.

The youngster was the first member to sign up to the Leeds YAC in 2011.

He was nominated for the award by his YAC club leader, Louise Martin, who described him as “oozing enthusiasm, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the past.” She praised William’s dedication, saying: “William has some personal challenges but his sense of ownership of ‘Miggy Park’ (Middleton Park) and being a founder member of the club, allow him to be at ease where he is happiest - exploring the past. It is inspirational to see as he grows up that he is still as enthused and engaged as he was back in 2011.”

The club meets at Middleton Park and is part of a network of 70 local clubs co-ordinated by the Council for British Archaeology.

The Young Archaeologist of the Year Award is one of three Marsh Awards for Community Archaeology. They are run in partnership between the Marsh

Christian Trust and the Council for British Archaeology, recognising and promoting high quality archaeological work being carried out across the community archaeology sector.

The award winners were announced at the British Academy in London last year but William was unable to make the award ceremony so the gong is being brought to him.

Nicky Milsted, from the Young Archaeologists’ Club who will present William’s award, said: “I’m looking forward to hearing from William about his adventures in archaeology with Leeds YAC and discovering what’s next for this inspirational young archaeologist.”