Leeds' brightest young stars celebrated at the Yorkshire Young Achievers Awards 2019

The 27th annual awards ceremony took place at Leeds United’s Centenary Pavilion, where undefeated Leeds boxer Josh Warrington stepped up to take Personality of the Year.

More than 400 guests attended the gala, which marks the achievements of young people in seven categories from the arts to sport.

Yorkshire Young Achievers Foundation, which runs the event, has now raised more than £1.3m to support young people in Yorkshire by awarding grants to help talented youngsters pursue their dreams.

The chairman of the awards, Peter McCormick OBE, said: “It was a very special evening where we heard some amazing stories, ranging from Lauren Doherty spreading the road safety message to other young people after she was paralysed in an accident, to Katie Mountain doing some amazing work with children and families in need in Leeds.

“These awards are also our main fundraiser of the year and none of this would be possible without the support of our sponsors and our guests, many of whom have been with us almost since the beginning, and we marked the commitment of one of these supporters, Simon Nabarro, with our Special Award.”

Seven talented young people won this year's awards:

Josh Warrington wins Personality of the Year

Leeds legend Josh Warrington won the award for his remarkable career in professional boxing, with 30 wins out of 30 to date.

Accepting the award, he said he was "truly honoured", adding: "I've been listening to some of the stories tonight, of some of the other winners, and any one of those could be up here tonight.

"Growing up on the streets of Gipton when I was 10 or 11 years old, I never thought I'd be getting awards like this.

"It just shows that hard work and dedication can get you to some places in life."

Archie Boyne from Leeds wins Youngster of the Year

Archie set himself the target of being world champion in Thai boxing by the time he was ten – and achieved it aged nine, winning three gold medals at the World Championships in Italy.

Fighting under the name “Archie The Barbarian Boyne”, the 10-year-old has won a series of titles since the age of five.

Away from the ring, Archie also takes part in cross-country, athletics and football, as well as mentoring younger pupils at school.

Daisy Watt from Doncaster wins Achievement in the Arts

10-year-old Daisy has raised £50,000 for cancer charities after her grandparents were diagnosed with the disease when she was just 6.

The talented artist sells her paintings of flowers and nature, which include daffodils used to represent people who are fighting cancer.

Katie Mountain from Leeds wins Achievement in Management and Enterprise

Katie set up and runs Sunshine Community Nursery in Harehills where she took on 58 children in her first year.

The nursery caters for children aged from babies to five, as well as supporting families in the local community.

She has recruited her own staff from within Harehills, which has proved valuable in a setting where 15 languages are spoken and where many of the children are refugees and asylum seekers.

Courtney Hill of Leeds Rhinos Women wins Achievement in Sport

Courtney captained Leeds Rhinos Women in a hugely successful season, culminating in them becoming the Betfred Women’s Super League champions for the first time.

She was appointed Captain this year and at the end of the season was named named as the 2019 Telegraph Woman of Steel at the Super League Awards.

Taylor Hogan from Leeds wins Achievement in Education

After a difficult childhood and struggling in mainstream education, Taylor was introduced to MAP charity which works with young people at risk of being excluded.

The charity helped her find an outlet for her talent and she started producing her own short films, before starting a Film and Screen Media course at Leeds College.

Taylor is now an ambassador for MAP Charity creating short films to spread the charity's message to other young people.

Lauren Doherty from Knaresborough wins Unsung Hero

Lauren was paralysed in a life-changing road accident when she was 20, after crossing a road without checking for traffic and being hit by a van.

She was determined she would breathe again without the use of a ventilator - something she achieved after two years - and she is now living independently in her own purpose-built bungalow.

Lauren was praised for her work spreading the road safety message to children of all ages and recently received a Chief Constable’s Commendation from North Yorkshire Police.