THE Herald Youth Awards 2009 recognise the achievements of the most enterprising youths in Plymouth.

Most of the 12 awards are sponsored – and there are three main sponsors for the entire event: City College Plymouth, Apex Core Training and Plymouth City Council.

The three organisations have got behind The Herald's campaign to find the most deserving young people in the city and shout about their worthy achievements.

The different categories of awards this year are:

The Herald Young Hero Award. This will go to an exceptional young person under the age of 18 who has done something which marks them out as a hero.

They could be an ordinary person who has committed an act of bravery or extreme generosity – or they may be someone who has used their exceptional talent or achievement to bring pride to the whole of Plymouth.

This award is being sponsored by UCP Marjon.

The Herald Young Business Award. This award aims to find the city's next young entrepreneurs and celebrate the enterprise of Plymouth's young people.

It may be awarded to a group or individual aged under 18 who has shown exceptional talent through a business idea or initiative in the past 12 months.

This award is being sponsored by John Kitto Community College.

School's Herald Team of the Year. This prize is awarded to the school which has produced the best mini-newspaper in the past 12 months.

The winner will be chosen from the schools which have taken part in The Herald's unique School's Herald Project during the past 12 months.

They will be awarded marks for the originality of their ideas as well as the quality of their research, ideas and photographs.

Crime Reduction Project of the Year. This award goes to the group or individual who has worked on the best initiative to reduce crime or anti-social behaviour in their community.

Any youngster or group of young people aged under 18 who has come up with an idea or helped work on a project to beat crime will be considered for this award to be run in conjunction with Plymouth police.

This award is sponsored by Devon and Cornwall Police.

Environmental Project of the Year. This goes to the group or individual with the best green scheme.

Any environmentally beneficial project will be considered, whether in a school or the community.

This award is open to individuals or groups aged under 18 who have worked on an environmental project in the past 18 months.

Sponsors of this award are Wales and West Utility.

Fundraising Project of the Year. This award recognises the ideas and innovation of young people involved in the fundraising schemes.

With so many causes looking for help, raising money for charity or a special project has become a marathon challenge during difficult economic times.

This prize will recognise the group or individual aged under 18 who has best engaged others in their fundraising project.

Prince's Trust Matthew Searle Award. This award recognises the progression of a young person on a Prince's Trust programme in Plymouth, who has overcome significant challenges to achieve success.

The award is in remembrance of Matthew Searle, who participated in the Prince's Trust team and who felt that being part of this was one of the most positive experiences of his life.

City College Plymouth is sponsoring this award.

University of Plymouth Business Ideas Challenge Enterprise Progress Award. This award follows the Business Ideas Challenge, which was launched during Plymouth Enterprise Week 2007.

Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, the prize package amounted to more than £40,000 in cash and professional business services.

Entry is open to a wide sector of the regional community including staff and students from the University of Plymouth as well as its Partner Colleges and Combined Universities in Cornwall, together with Tamar Science Park tenants.

This award recognises the demonstrable progress made by our nominated winner towards translating his or her business idea into commercial reality.

This is one of three awards sponsored by the University of Plymouth.

University of Plymouth Enterprise Week Flux Winners. This fast-paced business competition sees teams of higher and further education students, mentored by advisers from the local business community, competing for their place in the national FLUX championships.

Twice now the university's winning team has gone on to win the national championships – putting Plymouth firmly on the national enterprise stage.

This award is presented as part of Plymouth Enterprise Week 2009 – and is also sponsored by the university.

University of Plymouth Student Volunteer of the year. The winner of this award will be regularly involved in volunteering, proactively, leading the way in organising and developing community engagement projects, enabling students to make a real difference for their communities.

Jointly funded by the University of Plymouth Students' Union and Active in Communities project, this award recognises an outstanding member of the student volunteer team. It is the third award sponsored by the university.

Make Your Mark Challenge Award. Make Your Mark Challenge is the largest one-day national enterprise challenge that takes place on the Monday of Enterprise Week, later this year. This award is sponsored by the I-Space facility at UCP Marjon.

Plymouth Schools Enginuity Challenge. This event is promoted as part of National Enterprise Week, and aims to help young people understand the excitement of new technologies and the diversity of future career opportunities in engineering.