hello and welcome to this special programme in which we will be featuring some of the winning storying from this year's bbc young reporters competition. more than 2,500 young people aged 11 to 18 submitted their ideas and 30 national and regional winners were picked from across the uk to film their own story with some of the bbc�*s programme makers. well, this year there were three categories — me and my world, coronavirus stories and uplifting stories. well, the winners were told they had by chosen by some of the competition judges and here's some of their reactions. i'm not calling you to find out more about your idea. i come with some good news. are you ready? i'm delighted to say that... you are one of the winners of this year's bbc young reporter competition. no! all right, thank you very much. you've won... wow! i'm speechless, just wow. it's amazing. yeah! congratulations. thank you. i hope you're chuffed about it. yeah, very. congratulations how do you feel? pretty amazing to be fair, that's decent. l i'm so pleased. i'm really glad that my message got across so, yeah, i'm proud. i'm really proud of you and i think everybody that - worked with you will be really made up. i yeah. congratulations and i can't wait to see your finished piece of news. thank you very much. oh. wow! _ i can't stop smiling either, that was so sweet. their excitement is contagious. well, ourfirst report comes from 17—year—old hannah from south lanarkshire. she chose to talk about the work that she's been doing in a care home during lockdown and the importance of helping others. dealing with death is quite hard to deal with, because obviously these people didn't have their family with them when it happened, because of lockdown. so having to kind of die in an isolated place is quite tricky. it's really devastating. i'm hannah, i'm 17 years old, and i'm a cleaner at a care home, as well as a student. i was basically at school working as a lifeguard after the coronavirus hit, the council asked for people who would be willing to help volunteer for work in areas that were needed. out of all the options i was given, i chose the care home. the cleaning isn't that bad. it's something you would get used to, as you do it more and more, so i don't really mind it any more. i normally clean the residents�* rooms, so i would hoover and dust the main part of their room and then go into their bathrooms and give that quite a deep clean. i built a lot of good relationships with some of the people in the care home. you learn a lot when you work in there about their life experience in general. we were the only people there to support them. a lot of deaths were very surreal and strange. it was quite hard to deal with, especially if you're a young person. you wouldn't expect it. that's why it made it a bit more shocking when it happened. it had a big impact on a lot of people in the care home. there were quite a few times, especially during the first lockdown that i felt like i couldn't do it any more, because it was just too much for me, especially dealing with like death and just the work and how repetitive it was. but i pushed through it and i told myself that what i'm doing is good and it's helping people and i was there for a reason. i have seen a lot of people over social media and online that haven't followed rules and have posted about it. i have seen tonnes of people just really not caring at all about the situation. as a society, i feel like we should move forward and learn to look after each other and love each other more and definitely support those who need it the most, because i feel like we hadn't done that enough beforehand. iam happy, ifeel like i have accomplished quite a lot and i think what i have done has helped people and i'm really glad that i stuck at it. and so are we, our thanks to hannah for sharing her story. well our next report is from 17—year—old ben. he is an apprentice footballer at burton albion. ben made his report all about the pressures of trying to make it as a professional. here's his story. there's been a couple of lads recently who have been released by clubs who have taken their own life. that shouldn't be how it is. young people are often overshadowed on the mental side. you kind of see, "you're playing football every day, what can be wrong with you?" well who knows what's going on inside? i'm 17 years old and i play for burton albion football club. i am a first year scholar at the moment, so it is the first year of two years. there's loads of pressures and different kind of things going on. the football's kind of an hour and a half of your day. you're leaving school, you're leaving your mates, leaving your whole kind of last 12 years almost to come and play football and if you don't get to be a pro at the end of it, it's a big step to make. yeah, ijust wanted to highlight the importance of kind the the importance of kind of the mental health side of football. people kind of think, "oh, you're a footballer, you're kind of living life," and it's not that at all. you're going home, you're sore, you're aching, you've got to wake up the next morning. you've got to get through it and it's what you have got to do if you want to be a footballer. if you're not training well enough, you're out of the team, you don't play. it is hard, you're going home, you're not playing at all in the 90 minutes and you're thinking, "well, what am i doing here?" so, yeah, i think highlighting the importance of that side of the game is vital. an academy footballer is harder than people think. you're in there every day, so it's monday to saturday. you've got gym training in the morning. you've got college monday, wednesday thursday, you've got tactical sessions, you've got video sessions, you've got extras at the end if you want to do them. the getting up early, getting home late, it's hard. the drive at this club, that if you don't do your work, you're not playing in the team. there's loads of different assignments with different teachers, it is a big part of the scholarship doing the college work, yeah. it's not like anything else i don't think, we are all mates, but you're fighting with each other. if he's taken your place, as a pro contract, then you're not going to be happy. so, yeah, it is a bit fake in a sense that your mates obviously, but you don't to be better than them and you need to be better than them if you want to be a footballer, definitely. i have got plans if football doesn't work out. probably uni, i have been looking at america and different kind of english ones. but hopefully get a pro contract. my whole life goal has been to be a footballer, so i'm trying to work toward that. and yeah, i'm doing everything can i to do it. ben on the different challenges of becoming a professional footballer and i'm very pleased to say that actually ben joins us live now. ben, firstly well done on winning the competition. a fantastic story. but you've completely opened my eyes and i'm sure many of the people watching today on just how challenging it is to go professional in a sport. yeah, i mean i'm not sure people realise how hard it really is. they kind of see people who have made it and stuff and think, "0h, they've done really well, they must chuffed with themselves," but they don't realise the graft and the hard work that goes into it. because we think about, especially when it comes to professional footballers, we see the the glamour the cars etc, but the amount of effort that you put into it and there's a serious chance that you may not become a professional, that must be quite an eye—opener for many people. yes, definitely, i mean there's a lot of running and stuff that goes into pre—season, you've got your gym work, your college work, there's a lot that goes into kind of making a professional as it is. so, yeah, i mean doing the right things, getting all that done and stuff and just giving yourself the best possible chance of becoming a footballer is what i'm doing and what the rest of the lads in the team i think are doing. and talk us through the different pressures that you do face, because on top of the actual sport, the athleticism, you also have to keep up with your school work as well. it must be quite tough? yeah, i mean yourfootball is an hour and a half, kind of two hours of your day, and that's the highlight. you've got your college stuff afterwards which you've got to go to, you're doing stuff at home, sometimes you're doing it on the train, getting home at kind of 7, 8 o'clock and get up and do it again the same the next day. so, yeah, it's not well documented, i don't think. i don't think people realise that is what you have to do. they think it's football, home, you're done, but it's not, that's not how it works. it sounds relentless, but it does mean by telling your story, you've opened up this to so many different people. and tell us about the competition, because you filmed your story with some of my colleagues, how was that, how did that work out for you? it was quite surreal to be honest, because i entered the competition not thinking i'd win it. i entered it to try and get my message across, but kind of for myself more than anybody else. and then when they rang to say that i'd won, it was... it was a good moment to be fair, yeah, it was having all the cameras at the game, doing all these little videos for the video, it was really good, yeah. in terms of giving advice to any other young reporters out there, who want to get involved, what would you say, do it and what's yourtip? 100%, throw yourself into it. i mean, it's opened up so many options for me now if football doesn't work out. so, yeah, just throw everything into it, because you never know what's going to happen. you can't kind of hold back thinking, "0h something might happen, something might go wrong," just throw yourself into it and see where it takes you. well, look, we wish you all the best and thank you so much for sharing your story, it has been really fantastic to hear it and also hear the pressures you're under, but also the positivity as well. good luck with it, ben, thank you and congratulations. thank you. how fantastic. we are going to turn now to a report from wilhememina in cornwall. now, wilhememina's desire to promote understanding about tourette�*s syndrome made her one of the regional winners and this is her story. five years ago i woke up one day and i couldn't walk or even get out of bed due to disabling and violent full body tics. eventually, i got diagnosed with tourette�*s syndrome at the age of nine. what age did you first get diagnosed with tourette�*s syndrome? i was five years old when i first got diagnosed. i started symptoms when i was two. most people with tourette�*s have what's called co—morbidity, that what's called a co—morbidity, that could be 0cd, adhd, anxiety or depression. the co—morbidity that i have is anxiety and 0cd. it turns out i'm not the only one. adhd. i'm 0cd as well. 0cd and adhd. what's really extraordinary is that you don't seem to tic very badly when you're having your cello lessons. pyjamas! i've a government—funded scholarship to attend a specialist music school where i board away from home and cello and percussion to an advanced level, despite my disability. the moment you know my fingers touch the piano, the keyboard, it completely disappears. they go away, my focus - is for playing the drums is... it almost overtakes the tourette's. even though tourette�*s can be hard, i try not to let it stop me from reaching my goals. even if myjourney getting there is slightly different from everyone else�*s. it doesn't treat us| like anybody else. we create such a stereotype in the media, how can we undo this? people don't understand - the unknown and that is what is stressful for people i who have tourette's. has your tourette�*s changed at all as you've got older? yeah, yeah. they're always, even each day it can have its ups and downs. _ i started just making small grunting noises in my throat. as i got older they became more physical in my legs. you name it, i had all the tics. with tourette's, expect the unexpected. how do you think your life would different, or where do you think you would be now if you hadn't discovered the world of music? and how that helped you cope with your tics? honestly, i think i would be in one of two place either. i would be dead or injail. tourette�*s isn'tjust a swearing disease that the media portrays it to be. i want it to stop being the punchline of every comedian�*s jokes, i want people to learn about what tourette�*s actually is. this is the real tourette�*s. our thanks to wilhememina for sharing her story. well, the competition was judged by panels ofjournalists from across the bbc, who looked at the story ideas and had to decide on the national and the regional winners. well, newsround presenter ricky boleto was one of the national judges this year and roisin hastie who works at bbc news one was of the regionaljudges and i'm thrilled to say that they both join us today. my goodness, what a competition, not only was the calibre of the entries so high, but also, ricky, the timing during a pandemic, coronavirus and everything else to deal with, just talk us through your experience. well that is it, because every year we have entrants and they always surprise us, but i have to say i was worried this year, because for most young people, the world has just got so much smaller over the last 12 months, as the global pandemic turned their lives upside down, but instead what we got were fascinating insights into how young people have coped and how their relationships have changed, but also that make them tick. a few of my favourites have to be shereen who said she didn't like her dad before lockdown, but the relationship has completely changed. they have bonded now. and something we can all resonate with. but we also had some really strong journalism from some entrants who brought something totally new to the table. we heard from 15—year—old zoe, who wanted to talk about the lack of support for teenagers who lost loved ones during the pandemic, but then still had to sit exams. that's something that i've never really heard of before. we had refreshing stories as well about how young people are coping during covid, notjust hearing the negative things about them going out partying, maybe some people ignoring the rules, but also how they have been continuing to work like 17—year—old hannah, who has been working the whole of pandemic. hearing those positive stories too. so incredibly difficult to pick winners this year. incredibly difficult and i have to say the, you know, i admire how you judges have done it, because you have brought some stories to our attention that are incredibly personal as well. roisin, how do you choose a story, what stands out for you, what's important when it comes to story—telling? i think we look for things we haven't seen before, so stories where we think we have not really heard that story told and that's what i love about young reporters that it brings a completely fresh perspective to the bbc and it's so important that those stories get out there. we might look at things where somebody's shown like a realjournalistic nous and we think that's so interesting that they have picked up on this issue _ and they wanted to investigate it. roisin i bet you get a bit of help from your pet there! we can hear the pet there, it is wonderful. it is great. listen, ricky, when it comes to advice for anybody who wants to get involved in the competition to take part, give us a tip, what's the one thing they really need to think about? i think the most important thing for this competition is not feeling that you have to have a polished story that is ready to go. the whole point of the bbc young reporter competition is to have that nugget of something new that maybe we haven't heard of before and then we will do the rest. we will help you. because it is a difficult thing, it is quite imposing to think, "oh, i'm going to get my story on bbc news." the most important thing that we can do is really get your story and help you to tell it. so if you have got something that is new, something that we haven't heard of before, then don't be afraid, i think a lot of young people think bbc news isn't necessarily for them. apart from newsround, newsbeat, you don't always hear from young people on other platforms. but we are saying no, you've got to share your story with us and hopefully we will be getting more young people applying again for the next competition. yeah, we really hope so. and roisin, when it comes to the next competition, i'm assuming you're going to bejudging? yeah, it's always a massive highlight, i love being a judge for the young reporter, because i think it is so important that the whole process that those applicants experience, they pitch us their story if you like. we end up creating it with them and it end up being on bbc output and that confidence is so port important i think in the younger generation, because they need to know that being a journalist is an option for them. i think you know when i was younger i felt like the bbc was such a dream that i might never be able to achieve, but this really gives young people the confidence that you can, your voice will be heard and you can tell your story. absolutely and what a lovely thought to end on, i think with all all felt like that. but thank you both for being such fantasticjudges for sharing your experience and for bringing such amazing stories to our attention. ricky and roisin, thank you. well next we have a report from 13—year—old declan from nuneaton. now declan wrote about how his love of fishing has totally transformed his life. if i'm ever feeling worried or anxious i will go to the pond and fish. fishing kind of helped with like my anxiety and stuff, because i canjust get out of the house and just forget my problems. in year six i got hit by a car and i had to be on crutches, so i couldn't do any any physical activity like play football or pe and so i was feeling quite sad and lonely when that was happening. with the crash and moving to a new school, it was almost creating anxiety for me, because i had to make new friends, so it was actually quite hard, so just going out and just fishing was actually quite relaxing. watching like your surroundings, ducks, birds, it is quite therapeutic for me, but it would get quite exciting whenever i caught a fish. my favourite thing about fishing is that can i bond with my dad and grand—dad. both my brothers, they both play sport there both play sports that my dad used to play. and so i felt quite left out. so by discovering fishing, and that my dad likes, it is actually quite good, so we can bond over it. we can talk about stuff like my dad's work or my school. during lockdown i participated in the get fishing award and was first in the country to complete it. jimmy willis, who is from the angling trust, started the award. what we wanted to do was instead of people just trying fishing once, we wanted try and install that angling habit, which is where the get fishing award came from. so there's a bronze award, a silver award and a gold award and through these awards, within three sessions, you've got the basics to get out on your own. it's all green, it's - fresh, the sun's out, who wouldn't want to sit by water? it does have that - therapeutic reference to it. especially over the last year, we have noticed the mental benefits and we are hearing from so many people how much it is helping them. i've going fishing during lockdown. do you know how many other people have been? we have seen a big increase withjunior anglers. i think officially, according to environment agency fishing licences, it is around another 15,000. but angling as a whole, participation has increased, which is fantastic to see. i would say to young people just to go out and try it, because even if you try it and don't like it, at least you did something. but if you try it and like it, that's good. great advice there from declan — try it even if you don't like it. now, to 15—year—old shereen, who chose to talk about something that's close to everyone�*s heart — living through the coronavirus pandemic and the experience of lockdown. well her story looks at how being at home with herfamily has brought her closer to her father. apparently i was a very... ..silent child and a very good child. which is not what i am now. aw, this is me when i was four, and it was my first day of school. i don't remember my dad being there. i think my mum definitely took me. i always gravitated towards my mum and i thought that was all i needed. i didn't spend that much time with my dad, because he was always busy with work, because he is a doctor. i knew my dad existed, but i didn't really care! that sounds really mean, but like he was just... ..there. that picture, it looks very forced. i don't really look like i want to be there. my dad doesn't look like he wants to be there. that's my birthday. i think at that point my relationship with my dad was probably at its worst. we used to argue a lot. i just wasn't close to him at all. from this evening i must give the british people a very simple instruction. you must stay at home. i wasn't really looking forward to spending that much time with my dad. he has asthma and he had to get a risk assessment done and they thought out he was high risk so he had to stay at home. basically one day when i was just sitting down and i was really stressed with my work and i was really upset and my dad was like, "do you want an omelette?" he would make food for me quite often and i started making it with him and that's "i kind of like my dad too." he helped me with my work a lot. especially with my biology. he knows a lot of biology stuff. i got a really good grade on that. we watched masterchef, masterchef usa, masterchef australia, the whole shebang! we're going to go as a duo and we are going to cook omelettes. good job! hi five! highfive! when the restrictions were a bit less restricted, we went to dover. when i look at those two pictures, it looks like completely two different people. i think that's just amazing to see. ijust look more comfortable with him and i look much happier and so does he. my dad was looking for a newjob and he got an offer to do an interview for glasgow. when i came back from school, he told me, "oh, shereen, i got the job, i got the job." i cried for a whole day. it's been like a month. we what's app call every single day. hello! how are you doing? i'm all right. walked up to the glasgow city centre. it looks like a mini—london. what else have you been doing, have been cooking anything? yes, igot... electric whisker. did you do anything? yeah, it's really fast. it goes like woo! 0bviously, i'm doing this for the bbc young reporter. so they want to know how you found the lockdown and us getting closer together. so, yeah, the lockdown was really stressful as you know. we have to be kind, we have to be humane. and we have to understand each other. i've tried to be a good father. we managed to iron out some of differences as well. i didn't know that they were so deep—seated. but looking forward to seeing you guys. bye! 0h, he's gone. there's always something you can find in common with your family, because after all they're your family, they love you. it can be taken from you at any time. i think it's just lovely to have my dad as my best friend. oh, that's lovely. shereen�*s was our final report in this special programme, but you can watch many more of the stories and learn all about the bbc young reporter competition by going online: and throughout the year the young reporters will continue telling their stories for the bbc, so do look out for them and if you'd like to, do get involved. from me and the bbc young reporter team, thank you for watching. hello, the fine and dry conditions continue today and most places also seeing at least a little sunshine break through. there will always be more cloud to the north and west of scotland, taking a while to brighten up towards the south—west and the channel islands, but i'm optimistic most will see a bit of sunshine at some point. cloud amounts will vary. longer spells of sunshine in central and southern scotland and parts of cumbria. it is here where the winds will be lightest too, but with more of a northerly breeze down those eastern coasts again, expect another chilly day to return across parts of east anglia and kent. temperatures here only around seven or eight degrees on the coastal strip. chillier too across parts of north—east england, eastern scotland compared with yesterday. mildest towards parts of midlands, south—east wales and the south—west of england. tonight cloud amounts will remain in place across the north and west and scotland with some rain at times. that will keep temperatures up. with clearer sky elsewhere across parts of england and wales and southern scotland, there is a chance of some frost into monday. but monday and tuesday most places will continue with the dry theme. turning windier though from the west. this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the uk government is facing more questions over whether or not people can plan forforeign holidays. the cabinet minister, ben wallace said summer travel abroad is looking increasingly unlikely. it would be premature to do that. it would be potentially risky. we have done a huge amount. my constituency has been in lockdown since september in preston. i do not want to throw that away. homes washed away in australia as heavy rain and flash floods batter the east coast, thousands of people are ordered to evacuate. uk government has been warned that its decision to slash billions of dollars from its overseas aid budget is illegal. a snapshot of life in england, wales and northern ireland —