A former victim of school bullies has walked away with a £1,000 prize after proving himself as a youth worker with young offenders.

Niki Morris was selected for an Endeavour Award, presented each year to the cream of the young people at the Foyer Project in West Bowling.

The residential and training centre has many success stories as most of its youngsters have overcome some kind of adversity to succeed in holding down a college place or a job.

But the very best of them have been honoured in the Endeavour Awards, this year sponsored by top people's bank Coutts.

The top prize of £1,000 went to Niki Morris, 20, who has now left the Foyer to carry out youth work with the CSV in Cambridge.

He moved out of his Bradford home to live at the Foyer soon after his 18th birthday.

"The Foyer has helped me a lot. I was shy when I came here - all closed in, without any mates.

"I had been bullied by other kids at Tong School, they used to see me as a pushover because I wouldn't say boo to a goose.

"They started digging at me all the time and they assumed I was thick, which didn't bother me because I knew I wasn't."

When he arrived at the Foyer he was on the dole and used to spend whole days in bed.

But thanks to encouragement from members of staff he attended a Prince's Trust course, which triggered an interest in youth work. "I was involved in team building, residentials and community projects and that gave me confidence," he said.

"I'm now working with young offenders, trying to put them on the straight and narrow, which is something I feel proud of."

He will put the cash towards a three year college course leading to a diploma in youth work.

Craig Mitchell, 18, received a runner-up prize of £500 in cash.

"Things weren't going well at home, and I came to the Foyer about 14 months ago," he said.

"The Foyer gave me options, a wide range of things to do. I'm doing a fork lift truck driving course soon and I've done courses on computing.

"Living here has been a real big bonus, most of my friends had been into theft, I came here to get away from all that. If I hadn't come to the Foyer, I would probably be locked up by now."

Smaller cash prizes of £50 each were made to three more Foyer students, Rachel Avis, 21; Germaine Waite, 18; and Jonny Moores, 17, who were selected for 'encouragement awards.'

Rosemary Lawrence, director of the Foyer, said: "The awards are not about who's got the top marks or who's gone on to the best job on the best money, it's about who has contributed the most to the Foyer and gone the extra mile."

She said some students stood out for carrying out extra tasks such as briefing MPs about the Foyer's work, or attending events on her behalf to collect awards for the organisation.