A teacher whose experiences of addiction and homelessness inspired him to create a project to support young people has been honoured with an award.

Scott Jenkinson scooped the Virtual Revolutionary title for his work with Youth Shedz at the Gwobrau Creadigol event, which celebrated achievements in the creative digital sector across North Wales.

Scott inspired the judges with his story of overcoming a life of addiction and homelessness to graduate as a teacher, eventually founding Youth Shedz to support young people. The vision is to provide life changing training and experiences to those walking a similar path to Scott’s previous one.

Scott said:

“I’m gobsmacked for once. This is amazing for me because, more than just recognition for my hard work, it’s also vital recognition for the work that we’re doing. Opportunities like these raise the profile of our mission, and that’s all I can ask for. Using new technology to tackle old social issues, we’re shouting about VR.”

The winners at the awards included:

• Gaz Thomas – Freegames.org – Top Player
• Robin Abas – RAM – Behind the Lens
• Elen Foulkes – Els Events / Cyngor Gwynedd – Ground Breaker
• Daniel Parry Evans – Creadigol Design – In The Frame
• Scott Jenkinson – Youth Shedz – Virtual Revolutionary
• Sue Arnold – Creatives Meet – Eye for Design
• Meg Gregory – Animated Tech – Unsung Hero

Elen Foulkes said:

“Having been working on this for 15 years it is lovely to have this recognition. I’ve enjoyed celebrating all other nominees and winners and would like to thank the organisers and staff at Creative North Wales for giving us a stage to showcase our work, showing that we don’t need to relocate from our region to find meaningful and exciting work or opportunities.”

Emily Roberts, M-SParc’s Outreach and Community Manager, discussed the opportunities arising from the Creative Wales Skills Fund and M-SParc/Creative North's efforts to engage creative digital participants. She emphasised the importance of showcasing success to attract future interest and reiterated the focus on bridging the skills gap and preparing local youth for future careers.

Chairman of the Creative North Wales board Iestyn Garlick said:

“It is a pleasure to present the Creative North Wales awards. We have extremely talented individuals being awarded. The work they do leaves me speechless every year. I wish them all the best in the future.”