Romeo Bremmer, 17, wins British Citizen Youth Award – ‘The work’s just begun’

Romeo Bremmer has won a British Citizen youth Award (BCyA) for his work. Photograph: Juliet Coley

A Hackney teenager has received a British Citizen Youth Award (BCyA) medal for his writing and community involvement.

At 17, Romeo Bremmer has yet to complete his A-levels but has already penned nine books and seven published articles.

He and his family have even started their own publishing company which releases children’s books written by young Black people.

Bremmer is one of 22 young people to have received the award on 30 October.

He told the Citizen: “I’m feeling proud, I’m feeling honoured. Being one of the recipients of this award was humbling,” adding: “The work’s just begun.”

Bremmer first started writing at the age of five after his mum had a heart attack.

“When she was recovering, she referred me to play therapy, where I wrote down all my thoughts and feelings,” he said.

“My sister read all the notes I’d written and thought, ‘Mum, look what Romeo’s written, let’s put this into a book.’”

The book sold 200 copies in its first week and won an award the following year. He recalled: “That kicked off my writing journey.”

In addition to his own literary work, Bremmer helps others to put pen to paper. His Windrush Workshop, hosted at Hackney Archives in Dalston, saw him train more than 60 Windrush elders to tell their stories. He dedicated his award to them.

He said he was inspired to host the workshop by his grandparents and great-grandparents, who were part of the Windrush generation.

“When I talked to them about their story and how it was growing up, it was always, ‘Children must be seen and not heard. You don’t ask questions,’” he said.

“But growing up, my mum’s always told me that when an elder dies, a library’s burned down. All the stories the elder had growing up, how their life is… if nobody’s telling the stories, and they pass away, [those stories are] gone forever.

“Writing is legacy, and it’s something that’s always going to be there after we pass.”

He added: “Without the Windrush elders, like my nan, my granddad, my grandma, my great-grandparents, I wouldn’t have had the foundations to do what I’m doing today.”

Bremmer similarly trains young aspiring writers, helping them to become published authors, and started a fundraising campaign with two other young writers to provide reading and educational materials to a school in Accra, Ghana.

To date, their efforts have raised £25,000.

Bremmer is also a co-founder – alongside his mum and sister – of the Children’s Black Book Fair, which was held for the second time in August of this year at Hackney Central Library.

He said: “We wanted to have a book fair that celebrated and represented Black children in books.”

The Reflecting Realities Survey of Ethnic Representation within UK Children’s Literature in 2023 found just 17 per cent of children’s books published that year featured a racially minoritised character, down from 22 per cent the year before.

“It’s not representative of our playgrounds,” Bremmer added. “We wanted to alert these big publishing companies and houses that there’s a market.”

Bremmer and his fellow recipients were presented with a BCyA Medal of Honour at The Palace of Westminster. In addition, they can now use the post-nominals ‘BCyA’ in recognition of their achievement.

Now in its ninth year, the award is presented in partnership with Specsavers and hosted by TV’s Tim Vincent.

Bremmer pictured with BCyA host Tim Vincent and Specsavers founder Dame Mary Perkins. Photograph: British Citizen Awards

Mike Faulkner, Director of the BCyA, said: “We are delighted to be able to recognise these amazing individuals with a BCyA.

“It is both heartening and uplifting to know that so many young people are consciously contributing to causes such as the environment, education, and creating awareness and fundraising for hospitals, medical research and charities.

“The youth of today are truly the leaders of tomorrow and we are humbled that BCyA Patron Dame Mary, founder of Specsavers, has put her name to the prestigious group accolade, enabling us to broaden its recognition of young people in society.”