Suffolk Young Speaker of the Year Awards 2025

What an incredible celebration of talent we saw at the Suffolk Young Speaker of the Year Awards on 11th June 2025 at Kesgrave Conference and Community Centre!

Heats were held in 4 categories: The Environment, Mental Health and Wellbeing, Hobbies, Passions and Interests and Media and Technology.

Nearly 70 young people spoke from 15 schools and colleges across Suffolk, aged from 8 up to 18, showing incredible passion and knowledge about a range of issues, challenges and interest.

After an inspiring set of Heats in the afternoon, the judges had the unenviable task of selecting 10 finalists to go through to the evening final, which was open to the public. Our finalists spoke again, and 14 year old Amber Williamson-Brown of Claydon High School was awarded Suffolk Young Speaker of the Year 2025. Amber spoke about British Sign Language with a passionate call to arms for more people to learn the language and create a more inclusive world. Runner-up was 9 year-old Yuva Deepu from Cliff Lane Primary School, with a serious and powerful message demanding peace. 

Freya Ollason of Suffolk New College won the Ormiston Social Action Award for her speech calling for improved Mental Health provision for young people.

The event gallery can be found below. You can see coverage of the event online here.

A huge thanks go to our judges, Ray Wang from Ormiston Trust, Charlie Simmans from CF Education, Beth Derks, Caroline Harris, Martin Stolworthy and Linda Dorsett. 

You can read about our ten finalists here soon. All of these worthy winners had some important messages to share about what is important to them. As a Suffolk community we can lift up these young leaders of the future by creating more opportunities and platforms for them to develop their confidence and skills, build their networks and inspire others. If you work or volunteer in an organisation in Suffolk why not consider having one of these young speakers speak at your event? Contact us at info@asseteducation.co.uk and we can connect you to them via their schools and colleges.