"It's an honour to receive this award specifically in Lowestoft."

That was the reaction of Joshua Freemantle, after he was crowned as the Young person of the year in the Lowestoft Journal Awards 2021.

Mr Freemantle, 18, from Lowestoft said it was "amazing news" as the young creative continues to blaze a trail in his hometown.

Joshua’s love of film, his hometown and the diverse communities surrounding it led to the successful cinematic release of a feature length film documentary entitled ‘Life of Lowestoft’ in 2020.

With the documentary taking over two years to film and edit, dreams were finally realised with the premiere last year.

But after overseeing the Life of Lowestoft documentary, 2021 has been as "busy as ever" for the keen cinematographer.

He said: "After the documentary I thought about what I wanted to do next for the next chapter.

"So I came up with a business plan for Sunrise Studios and pitched it to Emma Ratzer and a panel of judges.

"I successfully joined the regional charity Access Community Trust, with Sunrise Studios part of Access which is really amazing.

"It was a great achievement to be taken seriously, particularly with my age, and gain employment by building Sunrise Studios within the Trust’s growing social enterprise network."

Various projects have followed, including 10 successful pop-up cinema events around the area which attracted over 800 people.

With his ultimate vision of creating a social enterprise production company in Lowestoft, operated by young people for young people, who want to learn about the creative industry and develop hands on industry standard skills, Mr Freemantle was also appointed the Young Person's Lead Ambassador for Lowestoft.

He said: "That is a privilege and an honour in itself.

"It means there is a young person's voice in the ideas being progressed on the Town's Fund and it is great to hear what other people want in Lowestoft.

"For me the most exciting part is the Cultural Hub on Battery Green and it has been great how I've been able to speak with the local authority and established community groups on how the Studios can assist with major regeneration projects.

"This fits in with the long term ambition going forward for Sunrise Studios of giving young people in Lowestoft an opportunity to learn and get hands on experience in a creative school for the town."

After a busy year, Mr Freemantle added: "This honour, coming at Christmas time, really is the icing on the cake."