The achievements of young people over the last two decades will be celebrated at a special gala in Truro in November.

Hosted at Hall for Cornwall on November 17, YT20 will herald 20 years of Young & Talented, The Lord Lieutenant’s Fund, which has awarded more than £500,000 to over 500 exceptionally talented individuals since 2005, helping to break down the financial, social and physical barriers so often faced by Cornwall’s gifted youngsters.

Arts Council England has awarded a £19,000 project grant to support the staging of the performance. The cash, made possible by the National Lottery, will be used to commission new work by choreographer Theo Clinkard, writer Anna Maria Murphy and composer Jim Carey in collaboration with recipients of the Young & Talented Cornwall Awards. This support is in addition to generous support from Cornish Metals and St Eval.

As a vibrant showcase of the talent so abundant in Cornwall, YT20 will feature a range of performances and exhibitions, and will be aimed at school students and community groups from across Cornwall to ignite imaginations and demonstrate the power of the possible.

From sportspeople to performers, writers to engineers, YT20 will bring together a vast collection of alumni who have gone on to achieve success thanks, in some part, to the helping hand early in their career from Young & Talented Cornwall. These include British pole-vaulter Molly Caudery, four-time Olympian rower Helen Glover, English rugby union player Luke Cowan-Dickie, double bassist Edward Francis-Smith (now playing with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York), BMX European Cup Champion Sienna Harvey and Para Lions footballer Matt Robison. All have been invited to attend.

Colonel Sir Edward Bolitho KCVO OBE, Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall, described YT20 as Young & Talented Cornwall’s most significant event to date. “Over the last 20 years, Young and Talented Cornwall has supported hundreds of young people who have gone on to achieve great things,” he said. “It will be a real pleasure to welcome some of them back to show today’s young people what is possible.

“YT20 will be a powerful gathering of home-grown talent; it will entertain and create a swell of pride but, more than that, we hope it will be a catalyst for future success by inspiring the next generation to push boundaries and build ambitious futures. We want to give young people optimism and demonstrate the opportunities for them in Cornwall.

Young & Talented Cornwall recipients, past and present, are invited to attend virtually or in person. Invitations will also be issued to schools, colleges, sports and community groups across Cornwall. All interested should get in touch with programme coordinator Sarah Waller on [email protected], or contact Young & Talented Cornwall on social media via @youngandtalentedcornwall.

The next round of grants is now open across the All Talent, Spirit of Trevithick and Creative Writing categories. Recipients will be awarded as part of the YT20 performance. For more information, visit www.youngandtalentedcornwall.org.

Tickets for YT20 are available from the Hall for Cornwall box office at www.hallforcornwall.co.uk.