Top model Mecia will host The Herald's youth awards

BEAUTIFUL model Mecia Simson is to co-present The Herald's Youth Awards 2009.

The 19-year-old Plymouth girl, who won the coveted title of Britain's Next Top Model in the summer, will co-present the 12 awards at our special ceremony on November 19.

GLITZ: (left) Mecia with Letitia Moreno, owner of hair salon Incognito. Above: Mecia as Company magazine's cover girl

Mecia will present the awards along with editor of The Herald Bill Martin, and said she was looking forward to joining Bill on stage on the big night.

"It'll be the first time I've presented an awards ceremony," she said. "It'll be really exciting, and an honour to be able to commend young achievers.

"I'm still young myself so I can really appreciate how much work goes into achieving your goals at a young age."

There will be 12 awards; four are open to nominations, but those nominations must be logged on our website by this Monday afternoon.

The Herald wants teachers, parents and other people in the city to nominate young people who have achieved great success over the past year.

The judging panel will study all the nominations and choose our winners. The four categories open to nominations are The Herald Young Hero Award, The Herald Young Business Award, Environmental Project of the Year and Fundraising Project of the Year.

We want youngsters who have been 'heroes' for the first award, those who have done well in a business project for the second, those who have carried out an excellent environmental project for the third, and kind-hearted fundraisers for the fourth.

The Herald Youth Awards 2009 initiative launched at the end of last month.

The main sponsors of the awards, now in their fourth year, are City College Plymouth and Plymouth City Council.

The awards are also part of Plymouth Enterprise Week, and have been highlighted as a flagship event in the celebrations.

The five-day Enterprise Week festivities, which are being organised to champion business in the city as part of National Enterprise Week, will involve hundreds of people from all sorts of business backgrounds and countless young people.

To nominate, follow the instructions on the dedicated www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/ya website.