A pupil of Greenhill School in Tenby has been hailed a Prince's Trust Educational Achiever of the Year sponsored by GoodFund after transforming his life at his former North East secondary school with help from the youth charity.
The Prince's Trust annual Celebrate Success ceremony kicked-off in style at the Hilton Newcastle Gateshead Hotel.
The special occasion was attended by a line-up of well-wishing celebrities, including Newcastle United legend Bobby Moncur, Olympic swimmer Chris Cook and actor Tim Healy.
The glitzy bash honoured 30 young people, volunteers and supporters from across the North East who were short listed for nine awards in recognition of outstanding achievements.
Seventeen-year-old Joshua Davies from Tenby, a former pupil at Norham Community Technology College in North Shields, became The Prince's Trust North East Educational Achiever of the Year sponsored by GoodFund.
This award recognises the achievements of young people who have overcome barriers, developed new skills and improved their education prospects.
Josh has aspergers syndrome and suffers from anxiety which have both had a significant impact on his ability to succeed in school. When he started at Norham College, he couldn't walk down the corridor alone and would not speak out in lessons for fear of saying the wrong thing.
He joined The Prince's Trust xl club which offers team-based programmes of personal development in schools across the region for pupils at risk of truanting and under-achievement.
The xl club gave Josh the opportunity to take small steps. The group was also very accepting of Josh and encouraged him to contribute.
Whilst Josh still feels anxious, he no longer lets this act as a barrier to his success and achievement. Josh is now able to walk in the corridors alone and attend lessons without support. He has recently started at Greenhill Sixth Form.
Josh said: "It's so exciting to win and I'm absolutely over the moon. I wasn't expecting it, it's so surreal - you never think it's going to happen to you, but it has happened to me and I can't quite believe it! After xl, I'm not scared to give my opinion anymore, and feel a lot better about myself."
Josh was presented with his award by Olympic swimmer, Chris Cook.
Chris said: "It's fantastic to see these kids do so well. I could tell by the way that Josh was so surprised when his name got called out that he wasn't expecting to win, but it seems that he's had a great evening and to take home an award has been the icing on the cake for him."
Further information about The Prince's Trust and Youth Week is available at http://www.princes-trust.org.uk">www.princes-trust.org.uk or calling 0800 842 842.