Wolves stars back Wolverhampton Young Citizens Awards - find out how you can nominate someone special
Wolves stars have given their backing to an award that shines a spotlight on incredible young people.
Nominations have opened for the 2026 Wolverhampton Young Citizen of the Year Awards. And once again it has been backed by Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The awards, which are now in their 13th year, recognise the achievements of young people in the city who have gone that extra mile to help others.
Previous winners include youngsters who have raised funds for charity, supported other members of their community, and generally made a difference to the people around them.
The awards, which are run by the Rotary clubs of Wolverhampton, were launched in memory of Tom Warren, a former Rotarian and the city's Education Director for a quarter of a century.
Former Wolves player Mel Eves is chairman of the organising committee and he took last year's winners to the club's training ground, where they met manager Rob Edwards and a number of players, before enjoying lunch with the first team squad.
Mel, who is part of Wolverhampton Rotary Club, said: "The Young Citizen of the Year awards have gone from strength to strength over the years. Last year, we selected 10 young people as finalists and invited them with their guests to an awards ceremony, with many others receiving a certificate of commendation for their efforts.
"This year, we look forward to seeing plenty more fantastic nominations."
Edwards said: “Young people who use their initiative and show kindness to others deserve to be recognised, so we are very pleased to support the awards.
“It was a privilege to host the launch at our training ground earlier this month, and equally as rewarding to meet and spend time with last year’s award winners.”
“As a club, we wish each of the 2026 nominees the very best of luck, and congratulate them on their recognition to date.”
This year’s awards are backed by the Express & Star as well as Safran Wolverhampton, the Wolves Foundation, Wolverhampton City Council, Carvers Building Supplies, the James Beattie Charitable Trust, WCR fm and West Midlands Magazines.
A ceremony will take place in September, to reveal the winners of these prestigious awards.
How to nominate for the awards
There are two age categories for the awards, 13-18 and 19-25.
Anyone can nominate candidates, who must live or go to school or work in Wolverhampton. There is a simple form to fill in.
For more details and to make a nomination, visit: wolverhamptonyoungcitizen.org.uk
Last year's winners
Ten finalists were guest of honour at the Wolverhampton Young Citizen Awards last year and there were three main winners.
Ethan Shaw: Winner 13-18
A sixth form student at Moseley Park School, who has a passion for both musical theatre and football!
He recently raised over £1,400 for the charity MIND by walking from his home in Wolverhampton to the Welsh town of Llangollen in just 25 hours.
He has been very open about his own struggles with emotional health and wellbeing and became determined to overcome these issues by devoting his spare time to ‘making people smile’ as in his words ‘making someone happy is the best of feelings’
Prior to his epic walking challenge, he has directed school musicals to encourage younger children to ‘go for their dreams’ and has delivered whole school assemblies on overcoming fear to follow your passion.
Frazer Humphreys: Winner 19-25
Frazer was nominated by a number of people due to his work with the charity called “Mendem Meetup”, which focusses on helping men cope with mental health challenges and suicide prevention.
The charity, which started in Manchester, has now been established in Wolverhampton for four years and supports more than 300 men aged between 18 and 64
The support he received himself from the group taught him how to love and value himself – and he now helps others, helping to lead family days, WhatsApp group chats and group hikes. He is also ambitious to develop and wants to train to be more effective around suicide prevention as well as mountain leadership.
Eva Abley: Special Recognition Award
A previous winner of the Young Citizen Award and an outstanding ambassador for the city of Wolverhampton.
She attends Wolverhampton College and despite having cerebral palsy is a keen swimmer, dog walker and writer and deliverer of motivational talks. She published her memoirs - The Good, The Bad & The Wobbly: The Shaky Memoirs of a Cerebral Palsy Warrior in March 2024
She took part in the Sky television documentary ‘Disability in me’, which recently won a 2025 BAFTA in the non-scripted category. She uses social media to highlight challenges for disabled young people and offer support and also found time to organise a charity ball in Wolverhampton that raised over £20,000 for Birmingham Childrens Hospital.
