The Seaford Young Personality of the Year Awards is the idea of Councillor Bob Sinclair and there are now four categories after a new sponsor came forward to support the scheme.

The Seaford branch of HSBC is sponsoring an award for 'overcoming adversity'.

This adds to the three original categories of sport, academic achievement and community service. Other sponsors are Wave Leisure, Intersport, Tansleys Printers and Seaford Town Council. The Seaford Gazette is media partner in the Awards.

The scheme is open to young people aged between 11 and 18 (on March 31, 2009) who are living in Seaford and have excelled in these fields.

A number of nominations have been received by the Gazette in the last few weeks from local residents and Seaford Head Community College.

One is for 12-year-old Jacob Smith who lives in Seaford and attends St Andrew's School in Eastbourne.

Jacob has shown a keen interest in cricket from a very young age and was nominated for the sport category by his father, John, who has coached him over the years.

At seven Jacob was selected to play for the Sussex U10s and repeated his selection at the county U10s for the following three years.

This season Jacob captained Sussex U11s and finished top of the bowling averages and sixth in the batting.

In the last two years Jacob has broken into the Senior Fourth XI at Seaford Cricket Club and became the youngest ever to take a hat trick of wickets in an adult match in the East Sussex League.

Another talented individual who has been put forward is teenager Lydia Atkinson.

The 15-year-old is deputy head girl at Seaford Head Community College, which nominated her for the community service award.

Lydia has achieved good results and has participated in many musical events both in and out of school, including taking a solo role in the latest Eastbourne Youth Choir concert.

She spent most of her childhood in Poland and one year at school in France, having to learn a completely new language. She became near fluent in French and has taken French GCSEs early, achieving an A* grade.

Lydia is on track to start her community service which involves helping with one of the younger children's Youth Clubs. She already helps with one of the Steyne Site (Lower school) after-school clubs and also with teaching the younger children at the church.

The teenager also keeps a vegetable patch and a flock of hens which lay her half a dozen eggs a day, which she then supplies to friends and teachers at the school. She also gives a proportion of the profits from this to an aid charity called Tear Fund.