Community award the latest gong for young Shetland politician

Young Scottish parliamentarian for Shetland Nicole Mouat added another accolade to her list of achievements last week when she won the Young Scot Community Award.

Nicole, 18, was presented with her award at a ceremony at the Glasgow Hilton last Thursday night.

The event, which attracted 500 people, was attended by celebrities including X Factor star Olly Murs and girl band Wonderland, as well as actors from hit shows Skins and Hollyoaks.

The fifth of its kind, the Young Scot Awards is held annually to recognise the hard work and talents of Scotland’s young people in categories which include sport, health, entertainment, community, enterprise, heritage and volunteering.

Nicole beat off competition from university student Gina Clark, 23, and a steering group from Dumfries and Galloway called My-Pod, to win the community award.

Nicole said it was a shock to hear her name read out: “I couldn’t believe it … it was just a bit odd.”

Last month Nicole was named Scotland’s Up and Coming Politician, and earlier in March she was given the “outstanding achievement” prize in the Scottish Youth Parliament Awards for the “Picture the Change” project she carried out in Shetland.

As well as this, she was voted in as one of Shetland’s two MSYPs for a second term.

Nicole said winning the latest award was a fitting end to what has been a busy month. She said: “It’s unbelievable, it’s been an odd month and that just really finished it off.”

Louise Macdonald, chief executive of Young Scot, said: “The Young Scot Awards are simply an amazing and humbling experience.  We are honoured to have this great opportunity to celebrate Scotland’s young people. The finalists of the Young Scot Awards only reflect the tip of the iceberg as there are thousands upon thousands of young Scots who are contributing to communities across the country in all sorts of positive ways. Their achievements show that Scotland should be proud of its young people and the difference they make.”