Young Bright Things

 

Hey Everyone,

The sun is out and a new year of rewarding exceptional young people is upon us. We have been busy throughout last couple of months planning our new website and finding time to recruit some eager bright young things as new trustees. They are super enthusiastic and bring a whole range of diverse talents to the project which will hopefully make this year’s awards the best yet.

About the trustees:

Rob Crellin

In between endless running sessions, dancing the tango (or attempting to!) and the countless hours working for Barclays Capital, Rob enjoys fighting for the public recognition of amazing youths. He believes passionately that young people have the power to change the world. Not just this, he believes young people have the chance now to create a more positive media narrative surrounding youths, and hopes to help by promoting such activities that are commended by the Young Achiever’s Trust. He always warmly welcomes opportunities to be further involved in youth issues.”

 Damien Clarkson

Damien manages the marketing and communications for non-profit e-learning project KnowHow NonProfit.  He champions the power of online communities and social media as a tool to share knowledge and best practice. He believes passionately that every young person has the opportunity to create a positive impact on the world.  He is an avid music fan and regularly organises charity fundraising concerts for Oxfam.  He has many passions including badly playing guitar, watching Arsenal and travelling. This year he is attempting to run his first half marathon to raise funds for Motor Neurone Disease. Twitter- @damienclarkson

Emma Garlick

Emma works in organisational development in the public sector, developing and implementing internal communications and engagement projects.  She previously worked for Barnardo’s in their Student Programme team, where she was responsible for developing branding, volunteering and fundraising engagement with students in the North of England and Wales.  Whilst at Barnardo’s, Emma developed a brand awareness initiative for student volunteers at summer music festivals.   She graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2007 with a degree in English.

Best wishes,

The Young Achievers Trustees

2010 Nomination form

 

Hello everyone,

We’ve all had a few months off to recharge our batteries, recruit some fresh blood and prepare ourselves for another fantastic year of celebrating your achievements.

February’s celebration day was an incredible event – the culmination of several months of nominating and short-listing. We’ve now come full circle and are preparing to launch the 2010 Young Achievers Awards at the end of June.

If you or someone you know has achieved something special through their volunteering in community, art, environment or sports, we’d like to know about it.

You can download a nomination form and send it in when the competition launches next month.

The search for the countries biggest achievers is nearly on . . . .

Best wishes,

The Young Achievers Trustees

Awards coverage

Since the awards event in February, we’ve noticed coverage from the day popping up across the web. Here are some of the highlights:

The Flintshire Neighbourhood Watch have a lovely Piece on Rachel Edwards and her participation.

Katrina Hammond has written a brilliant report for the National Association of Disabled Supporters.

Website Abs-kids started by community winner Abby Morrall has a write-up on her website’s news section.

It’s great to read about the impact of the event and we’re already very excited about this year’s recognition.

Money can’t buy opportunities

One of the aspects of the Young Achievers Awards that we truly pride ourselves on is the money can’t buy prizes that we offer to winners. Recently we’ve been finalising the details for the various opportunities donated and we’re excited to reveal some of the details to you. The following are all in the pipe-line and will be taking place throughout the year…

Adam Grodecki will Join Lord MacDonald for a tour of the House of Lords, followed by afternoon tea.

Peter Forrest has won the  chance to spend the day with one of the UK’s busiest Mountain Rescue teams in Cumbria.

Katy Dawe will be taking up an exciting opportunity to receive half a day of fundraising advice from the guru Michael Norton.

Adam Leighton will be joining Join Lord Hastings for a tour of the House of Lords, followed by afternoon tea.

Hanna Thomas will be spending a day  assisting one of Britain’s top portrait photographers.

James Stott has won a two hour question and answer session with Jonathan Marks, the founder and managing director of sports management agency MTC.

Jo Davies will be taken out by social entrepreneur and advisor to the Young Achievers Trust, Andy Marks. The day will include lunch at his club and a chance to chat about social enterprise, the green marketplace, brands and consumption and how to make ideas happen.

Katie Haywood will have an exciting day with an UnLtd Development Manager visiting community projects in London.

Rachel Edwards will spend the day with YouthNet’s Multimedia Team learning the filming techniques that professionals use in video production.

Joe White will shadow the RSA Events staff team and see behind the scenes of how they plan for a public event.

Abbi Morrall has the opportunity to shadow either the Chief Executive or a Trustee from YouthNet. The charity guides and supports young people, enabling them to make educated life choices, participate in society and achieve their ambitions.

Richard Tipple and Kristian Reed will be taking a tour and tea with Baroness Hanham at the House of Lords.

Katrina Hammond will be taking a tour and tea with Baroness Pitkeathley at the House of Lords.

Our volunteer writers

We hope you enjoyed reading the stories of 16 inspiring young achievers last month. We’re still in the process of documenting more fascinating projects in the coming weeks – 16 more to be precise! We would never have managed it without the help of our fabulous volunteers who have taken an interest in the charity and are using their writing skills to make a difference.

Here’s a bit more about the people behind the scenes…

Lorna Maclean

Lorna is from London and lives with her parents and two older sisters. She has just started a new job as a junior training facilitator with a non profit organisation called Embrace. The organisation helps underprivileged youth gain confidence and gain skills that will help them with their employment prospects. The job appealed to Lorna, as it was such a worthwhile cause and for that same reason she decided to volunteer in order to showcase the amazing things young people have achieved. Reading about the Young Achievers left her awestruck by the selflessness of all the young people.

In her spare time, Lorna likes nothing more than to relax (preferably over food) with her friends and her family.

Thomas Jones

Thomas from Ealing is currently working as a teaching Assistant for Youth Charity Rathbone, located in Hackney. Still unsure what he wants to do with his life, he is spending his free time endlessly searching for some inspiration. He is confident however, that he wants to stay closely associated with the public and charity sectors. Of course this is unless, his unattainable dream of being in a huge rock band comes into fruition. Thomas also enjoys reading and wants to speak four different languages by the time he is thirty, at the moment he can only speak one and a half.

Sapphire Elisha

Sapphire from Bloomsbury  is a student of Ethnomusicology and will soon be commencing her Master’s degree in this subject at Cambridge University.  Sapphire is also a young writer of fiction and poetry and has recently completed her first novel.  She has been greatly inspired by the pursuits and successes of the Young Achievers Award nominees and is very grateful to have been involved in the organisation that promotes them, especially as a writer, since this is one of her principal passions. She looks forward to becoming involved in other projects.

Keith Moran

Keith lives in London and until late 2009, spent 3 enjoyable years working for the internet giant Google, before embarking on a year long career break to work on voluntary projects in the UK and internationally. This new chapter has already seen him spend 6 weeks working in Zambia with the “Bookbus” schools project and he also visited Botswana and Zimbabwe in his free time.  Since returning to the UK, Keith  has compiled case studies for the Young Achievers, works with Friends of the Earth and is dedicating some time to political research with the Democracy Club. He has also dabbled with comedy writing and in January this year, had some of his material broadcast on BBC Radio 7′s “Newsjack” show.

Helen Gregory

Helen has worked in magazine publishing for eight years, working on magazines such as Reveal, Real People, Fabulous and Best. She is currently unemployed and taking on voluntary work whilst she looks for jobs. She is passionate about charity work and has been inspired by the people she works with. She loves reading children’s stories, eating Camembert and buying vintage furtniture she can’t afford.

If you’d like to know more about the Trustees behind the running of the charity, check us out on our website.

Day 15: A snapshot of the awards

On Friday 5th February, we invited 32 young achievers to a celebration day at Amnesty International. The day consisted of training events and an evening ceremony. Here’s some photos to give you a taste of the special day.

Football Star Adam Leighton and Friends

Katrina Hammond collecting her award

Katy Dawe in the midst of training

Abbi and Jo

Kristian Reed receiving award

Passionate awards speech

Dressed for the occasion

Storyteller Joe White enjoying the day

Katie Haywood makes her mark on the evening

Rachel Edwards networking with other achievers

All attention on Rebecca Bailey

Richards Tipple smiling from ear to ear

Lei-an impresses with her fabulous singing voice

Day 14: Volunteer rugby physiotherapist Joanne Davies

Jo, 24, embraced an opportunity at her local rugby club to gain work experience in physiotherapy and once qualified returned to the offer her services for free.

Jo has volunteered in different capacities at Newsome Panthers taking on the role of Team Manager for the under 16s, providing physio for under 13s and coaching under 8s in the summer.

Most recently, Jo has volunteered as Development Manager, a role allowing her to establish close connections in the community such as with schools, where she will be able to coach rugby and provide the correct techniques and equipment. This role is extremely beneficial to the club as she encourages new children in the community to join Newsome Panthers.

As the club physio, Jo attends any player, from any age group, ranging from 6 to 18 years-old and with any physical problem. She does this in her own time and at no cost to the players.

Jo has a good relationship with the club players and as well as encouraging the teams with her enthusiastic personality, she has gained their confidence in her as club physio. Jo is able to identify when a player is at risk of injuring themselves during a game and offers advice on whether he or she should continue or take time out to rest, so as to not cause any serious long term injury. As well as being committed to providing physio support to members of Newsome Panthers, Jo has also been physio for the Kirklees Service Area and is currently establishing connections with the university in order to get students involved with the club.

Day 14: Attack victim Lydia Morgan

 

When Lydia Morgan, 16, was assaulted by another girl in her home town, she didn’t let it affect her. Instead she got involved in a local project to help reduce anti-social behaviour. And now, thanks to all of her hard work, other children can enjoy a state of the art chill out room/classroom at the Seaburn Centre.

When Lydia first became involved in the Kickz project, three years ago, she had just suffered a terrifying attack at the hands of an older girl. The experience left her wanting to help to put an end to anti-social behaviour, so she started volunteering at the project. Kickz is run by Sunderland Football Club, in cooperation with the Metropolitan Police, and aims to get young people off the streets and taking part in sports and leisure activities. In 2009, Lydia volunteered over 100 hours of her time, organising sports activities and mentoring the 12-19 year olds who attended the centre, and all while studying for her GCSEs. She passed all 11 subjects whilst volunteering for the project.

After getting more involved in Kickz, Lydia helped to set up the Youth Opportunity Forum, giving participants the chance to have their say on various issues. It became apparent that the centre needed a room for those who turn up to relax, do their homework and write CVs, so Lydia took up the challenge. As well as securing an £18,000 grant from the Youth Capital Fund, she then applied for a further £5,000 from the local council to decorate and finish the room. All the while, Lydia consulted the forum and worked with her peers to create the perfect space for them.

Once the project was finished, Lydia named the space Kane’s Room after a Kickz volunteer, Kane Scales, who had been a regular volunteer at the centre and had sadly died in a road traffic accident. Lydia set about having a plaque made to honour him, as well as creating wristbands in his memory, with the profits going to the two hospitals where he was cared for after the accident.

Lydia has been nominated by her youth worker, Jennifer Mildenhall. Jennifer says that Lydia’s dedication has led to Kane’s Room becoming a huge success. She said: “Since being opened in May 2009, the room has been accessed by over 100 local people in just four months.”

Day 14: Student Hub’s Adam Grodecki

Adam co-founded Student Hubs in order to create a culture shift in UK universities, creating an enabling environment for students to become active local and global citizens – where civic engagement is the norm, not the exception. His work over the last year has resulted in increased student engagement with social issues, and increased student volunteering. This has had important community benefits now, but will also lead these students to become agents of change in the future.

In October 2008, Adam took a year out from his degree to oversee the expansion of the Hub to a further 3 universities and took on full time members of staff. He received a stipend to fund his living expenses and volunteered for an additional 30 to 40 hours of week and dedicated a further 2.5 days and many weekends and evenings.

Adam oversaw several large events including the Oxford Forum for International Development (the UK’s leading student conference on development issues held over 2 days with 360 students and 30 speakers) and the Oxford Social Enterprise Forum, the UK’s first student conference on social entrepreneurship, with 200 attendees. He also launched the ‘Hive Oxford’, a managed workspace for small and start-up charities and social enterprises in partnership with the Ethical Property Company.

Laura Higgins, a fellow student at Oxford University said:

“I have been continually struck by Adam’s level of commitment to Student Hubs and his dedication to succeed; I have already experienced the change in student attitudes towards volunteering. Thanks to Adam’s tireless work, the charitable ‘scene’ has changed beyond recognition.”

Many students have also been inspired by Adam on a personal level: he was voted one of the ‘Top 50 Influential People in Oxford’ in a poll run by a student newspaper, ‘The Oxford Student’. Aside from the Student Hub, Adam has also launched a new project as part of Student Hubs to inspire students to seek employment in ethical careers. In its first year, the project placed 25 students on 4 to 8 week work placements with charities and social enterprises. This has had important community benefits and will also encourage students to be agents of change in the future. Student Hubs has also grown over this period of time and has a national membership of over 8,500 students and 80 student groups.

Adam has overseen various other charitable activities and events all of which are beneficial to the Oxford and the wider university community. Through his work with Student Hubs he has reached out to a dormant network of students and has actively engaged them and raised awareness on ethical and social issues.

Day 13: Awareness raising hero Katrina Hammond

Katrina Hammond, 19, from Clacton-on-sea has been a volunteer for the last six years.

Her venture into volunteering started in 2004 when, concerned that she wouldn’t be able to get a paid job when she left school, Katrina decided to volunteer in a charity shop to gain some work experience.

Her passion for football then led her to get involved with the National Association of Disabled Supporters (NADS) and since then Katrina has attended football games all over the UK and Europe to assess facilities and advocate for disabled football fans. Her most recent work with the charity involved lobbying for changes in the allocation of tickets for disabled people for the FIFA World Cup.

In March 2008, Katrina started working with local charity, Tendring Young Persons Epilepsy Support, (TYPES), facilitating workshops about epilepsy in order to increase awareness and decrease the myths and misconceptions surrounding the condition.

Then, in 2009 she joined forces with a group of disabled volunteers to film a short video for a new skills, training and employment website, www.lifetracks.com. The aim of the video was to highlight the challenges faced by young disabled people in getting support at school.  Her involvement in the video was recognised by her local paper, the Clacton Gazette, which featured a news article about the work of the group.

Katrina has dedicated a huge amount of her time to volunteering, using her own personal experiences of discrimination to educate others about epilepsy and other disabilities. She also raises awareness of all the activities that young disabled people can get involved with, so that they can feel empowered.

Katrina is a well deserving runner up of the Young Community Achievers Award as her volunteering efforts have made a huge difference in her community and beyond.  She is an excellent role model and an inspiration to other young people.