CHILDREN and teenagers were rewarded for their achievements with Bolton’s youth services at a Hollywood-style awards ceremony.

Instead of getting their names etched into a star on a famous Los Angeles boulevard, they planted gold and silver hand prints onto a “wall of fame” board at Emmanuel Church Centre off Deane Road, Daubhill.

The “South-east Stars of Success” awards saw dozens of four to 13-year-olds turn up with their parents to take part in fun activities, including hand printing, nail painting, cake baking and drumming.

Later the 13 to 19-year-olds enjoyed the sounds of a local DJ, a disco and took part in MCing.

The day was reward for both groups for the progress they have made in learning new skills since joining schemes run by Bolton Council and Connexions. Each young person received a certificate outlining the specific thing they have excelled at in the past 12 months.

Carla Lord, a play development manager for the council’s positive contributions team, said: “It’s a way of rewarding them and saying ‘thank you’ to them for taking part in the activities we have put on and for making a positive contribution.

“A lot of what we do with the younger ones is self-help skills like learning to look after themselves, how to be independent, make friends, and be streetwise — little things that really help towards the kids’ futures.”