Television Centre is proud to sponsor the 2023 Overcoming Adversity award, for a young person who has overcome and persevered through challenges and has shown resilience in overcoming a difficult situation with a selfless focus on the local community.

This year, the winner of the “Overcoming adversity” award is Vitali, from Fulham Cross Academy, a stone’s throw from Television Centre. The annual Hammersmith & Fulham Youth Achievement Awards are an opportunity to showcase extraordinary achievements and diversity of talent in the local area.

Displaced by the war, Vitali came to West London in 2022 without his parents. He is named after Vitali Klitschko, world champion boxer and current Mayor of Kyiv. “My mates call me Mr Klitschko.”

Vitali has been chosen to receive this award from the Hammersmith & Fulham Youth Council, because he has managed the transition to a new country heroically and makes efforts to help his peers. The language barrier has been difficult, preventing Vitali from making new friends. Although English is not his first language, Vitali recently represented his school as a tour guide during an Open Evening.

Vitali also supports by taking up an admin role at a local school, helping other Ukrainian students. He is committed to this role and speaks passionately about his desire to contribute to this community, ensuring that these students, like him, feel safe and that they feel able to make a fresh start. One award nomination said: “This young man, despite the traumas he has faced and continues to face, epitomises resilience, courage and empathy and we are privileged to have him at our school.”