The Queen’s Birthday Honours local Spotlight Youth Worker with an MBE

02.09.2021

The Queen’s Birthday Honours local Spotlight Youth Worker with an MBE

We are incredibly proud to announce that Nahim Ahmed, Spotlight’s Youth and Community Engagement Manager is being honoured with an MBE for his services to disadvantaged young people in Tower Hamlets.

The awards are for the outstanding contributions people have made in their communities.

Having worked as a youth worker for over a decade, Nahim credits his passion and dedication to youth service from his lived experienced of growing up in Tower Hamlet, which allows him to relate the young people he works with and the struggles they are going through.

Over the past decade, Nahim has been working both in the private and voluntary sectors to help young people and local residents with their development, focusing on directing projects/programmes that will help bring positive sustainable changes and transform the lives of those that need it the most.

His mission is to inspire young people from disadvantaged backgrounds through the art of story-telling, in both formal and informal settings. He combines personal, academic and professional approaches which enables him to connect with the thousands of young people he’s since come across in his vocation, to help raise their confidence and self-esteem.

Nahim explains:

“An unbelievably surreal moment, I am humbled and lost for words.

It has been almost painful keeping this news from close friends, mentors and loved ones for the past month.

I come from humble beginnings. Being raised in Tower Hamlets I have first-hand experiences of the issues that unfortunately, still exist for young people. Issues such as youth violence, youth unemployment, anti-social behaviour, drugs and more.

As much as this is a proud moment, we still face some of the biggest societal issues affecting young people; the impact of Coronavirus on young people’s mental health being one such example.

I will continue to serve the young people of Tower Hamlets and do my utmost to create opportunities for them by collaborating with like-minded professionals.

It is often really hard to articulate the job us Youth Workers do in a few words. Hopefully, this recognition will help paint a picture of the work we do and why it is so important.”

Spotlight is open for all young people age 11-19 (and up to 25 for those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities). Find out more about the Spotlight programme here