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.

Day 12: DJ TiPzTaR is passionate about sharing his music skills

Richard, 22, first started to DJ when he attended some workshops at his local Youth Offending Team. He discovered a passion for music that gave him a new focus in life, away from the trouble that he was starting to get into.

Richard has shown determination and passion for working with young people from disadvantaged areas. He has established a career as a self-employed DJ tutor and promoter and has completed an intensive business course with efactor, a local government funded intitative. Richard has dedicated much of his time this year to mentoring new young DJs and giving them a new direction through music.  He has been running workshops for young people as well as promoting club nights for under 18s.

Richard has been working with young people in deprived areas who are at risk of offending and his first hand experience of life as a troubled youth has helped him relate to them. He has mentored and encouraged some new young DJ’s to perform at local community gigs.  His nominator Caroline Moorbyl has said: “He is passionate about giving these young people the chance to try something different and to give them the opportunity to channel their energies into something positive and creative’.

Richard set up a gig within one of the young people’s centres, working with both professional and local young DJ’s. He has also co-ordinated a DJ showcase event as part of his local council’s Youth Arts Festival. This particular event was a great success with over 160 young people attending and is testimony to his great organisational skills.

There is real evidence that Richard has been making a difference with many hard to reach young people who have engaged positively with him and his DJ workshops.  Richard has been mentoring a young local man who had recently been released from prison. He worked closely with Richard and showcased his work at the Youth Arts Festival. At the end of the showcase he said that his involvement with this type of music and event gave his life purpose and was a real reason to stay out of trouble and not go back to prison. Richard is still mentoring him and hopes to help him with other projects.

Richard’s achievements are far from over. He’s planning to take his DJ workshops into local schools and community settings, working within the more deprived areas of Grimsby and Cleesthorpes. He will also soon be working closely with local police and councils to create good partnerships. He plans to run issue based workshops which will enable young people to voice their feelings and emotions through music.  Richard’s determination to avoid trouble and channel his energies into something positive is inspiring and sends the message to other young people that they can make a difference to their own lives.

Day 11: Sporting website whizz James Stott

James Stott was a keen sportsman. He loved rugby league and played regularly until a serious shoulder injury abruptly halted his involvement in the game. Despite this huge setback, James, channelled his energies into the creation of a website for his club. Through his dedication and commitment, Peter transformed the site from a few basic information pages into an interactive award winner.

Shawcross Rugby League club has over 250 junior members. Two years ago, James was like any other member, taking part in weekly fixtures and enjoying the rough and tumble that is part and parcel of this competitive sport. That was until a severe shoulder injury forced him to quit the game and reconsider his options. This devastating blow could easily have led to him leaving the club altogether. However through his upbeat manner and positive approach he decided to continue working at the club and on an entirely voluntary basis, devoted his time to transforming the club’s website.

James has been a role model to his peers through the enthusiasm and skill which he has gone about this task. He spends several hours every week updating the site despite working full time, and utilises all the IT skills he gained (and more) during his absence from playing sport. He provides articles for the website through his own research, creating many informative and entertaining sections. He devised a “Hall of Fame” element to the site, containing a potted history of famous past players and a brief history of the club. Additionally, James produces regular weekly updates for all junior teams with news and fixture information.

His innovation and good ideas make a big difference right across the club. Through the website he has encouraged the local community to utilise the clubhouse and as a direct result the Shawcross Sharks can now boast blood donor sessions, belly dancing classes and swimming tuition alongside the regular rugby activities. In addition James has encouraged the use of the function room to serve the wider community through hosting first aid and child protection classes.

His contribution to his club and local community has not gone unnoticed and James has deservedly received many accolades for the great work he has carried out. Recently the website won Best in Class from the British Amateur Rugby League Association and he has been asked to write match reports for a high profile, national rugby league journal.

In 2007 the Rugby Football League invited James to Wembley Stadium where he received the Young Volunteer of the year award.

There can be no doubt that James is an exceptional individual and through his IT skills and personal dedication, he has made a huge contribution to his club and community. Chris Smith, James’ nominator says:

“James has developed over the past 3 years from an enthusiastic young volunteer in to a much respected young adult, he has some creative ideas and is always willing to share them and where possible instigate them to improve the running and facilities of our organisation, we regard him as a key person in our future development”.

Day 10: Sustainable living star Hanna Thomas

In less than two years, 25 year-old Hanna Thomas has become a cycling, local food-eating, vintage-wearing advocate for sustainable living. How many of us want to live a more eco-friendly life-style, but don’t know where to start? Hanna is the kind of person who can really help us all make a difference using her unique talent for bringing environmental issues to the mainstream and making climate policy accessible.

In autumn 2009, Hanna was central to the co-ordination of the first ever UK Youth Delegation (UKYD) to a UN Climate Change Conference in Poland. During the event she met with government ministers, staged creative actions and delivered a notable intervention on behalf of young people from around the world – she called on countries attending the negotiations to aspire for 95% carbon emission reduction targets.

In December 2009, she was the media liasion for another major climate change summit where negotiations took place in Copenhagen. She delivered training for the team on environmental justice and diversity, something she’s played a key role in developing in the UK.

Hanna’s commitment to green issues was sparked by voluntary action, but it has since led to a change in her career path as she left her role at a publishing company to work for Otesha UK.

She’s also spent time developing a low-carbon travel website, Escape London, that she co-founded with her boyfriend in 2008, after winning an Anti-Apathy Feel Good Fix World award.

As if that’s not enough, Hanna’s also become a member of Transition Town Peckham, helping make her neighbourhood more sustainable and ensuring that the group’s membership is diverse and representative of the local community.

Although it’s difficult to measure the exact impact of large-scale awareness raising, it’s safe to say that the articles that Hanna wrote in Poland changed people’s minds. Her website, Escape London, has made it much easier for people living in London to find information on holidays that are accessibly by public transport, and Transition Town Peckham has seen immense benefit from her involvement. All of these projects are bound to see future growth thanks to Hanna’s involvement and in turn boost public perceptions on crucial environmental issues.