Blackburn teen named Lancashire’s Young Citizen of the Year

A 17 year old boy from Blackburn has been named as Lancashire’s Young Citizen of the Year 2024.

Muhammed Karbhari topped the list of 50 young and inspiring people who have made real differences to their communities across the county over the last year. He was presented with the award at a ceremony held last night (March 7) at Lancashire Police Headquarters, Hutton.

Presenting Muhammed with his prize was the High Sheriff of Lancashire David Taylor, Assistant Chief Constable Karen Edwards and Russell Millhouse from the University of Central Lancashire.

The ceremony heard that Muhammed founded Uniformity which started out as a student-led social enterprise at Tauheedul Islam Boys’ School in Blackburn, helping parents and carers access affordable school uniforms whilst helping the planet and local community. Students would donate their old but well looked after uniform, the team would dry clean and iron, provide packaging and sell to the customers for an affordable price much cheaper than the new uniform.

Muhammed coordinates the dry cleaning, organising stock to get it to parents. With the enterprise growing, his team have set their sights on expanding to more schools in the area, planning to purchase their own dry-cleaning machine to reduce costs and upgrade the online platform to make it simpler to donate and purchase clothing.

The judging panel also selected a second and third place.

Saanvi Reddy, 15, from Blackburn was runner-up. Utilising her talents and training at the Junior Royal Northern College of Music, Saanvi has brought comfort and entertainment to patients, visitors, and staff across Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust through her beautiful violin recitals at Royal Preston Hospital.

In third place was the MAM (Masjid Al Momineen) Activity Camp in Blackburn with Safa Undre, 16, Simrah Undre, 13, Sahra Parker, 16 and Maria Muhammad, 11. This young leader’s group has made significant contributions to the establishment of the kids activity camp. There is a huge demand in the local area for initiatives that develop children’s personal and social development. The sessions include engaging activities, such as, Arts and Crafts, Sports, General Knowledge Quizzes and Games.

The Bravery Award went to Evie Hobson, 10, from Fleetwoood. Evie saved a man’s life, after finding him unconscious on the street and contacting the emergency services, thankfully he survived.

David Taylor, High Sheriff of Lancashire said: “Over the last twelve months I have been very impressed by the positive effect the voluntary sector has across our County.  This is particularly the case with our young people and the entries for this years award were all excellent.  It was very difficult to pick winners and all those who submitted can feel justly proud of the work they are doing for their community.”

Assistant Chief Constable Karen Edwards said: “Many congratulations to Muhammed who is this year’s deserved winner, and to Saanvi and the young people from MAM (Masjid Al Momineen) Activity Camp who were worthy runners-up. It is excellent to celebrate their achievements and the amazing work of so many youngsters in Lancashire, they are making outstanding contributions to their communities.

“It is such an honour to be involved in the Young Citizen of the Year Awards. Every year we are impressed with the standard of entries. We have a lot of inspirational young people in our county and to recognise them in this way is magnificent.”

Professor Graham Baldwin, vice-chancellor of the University of Central Lancashire, said: “Many congratulations to Saara, Cole, Daniel and all the fantastic young citizens nominated this year.

“The judging panel’s task seems to get more difficult every year, with youngsters willing to go the extra mile again and again, to help those in need and less fortunate than themselves. The many accounts of selflessness and dedication to helping others is inspiring. The University is proud to support LANPAC in recognising the achievements of Lancashire’s young people.”