The Young Achievers Trust is a youth-led charity (registered charity no. 116895) which celebrates, recognises and supports the contribution of young volunteers aged 16 to 25 in England. We deliver the Young Achievers Awards, which aim to:
- recognise, grow and nurture exceptional young volunteers to enable them to achieve the greatest possible impact in their communities
- Inspire more young people to become engaged in volunteering and create positive stories about young people in the media.
The Young Achievers Awards
In 2008, we rewarded 56 young people across our four awards categories: arts, environment, community and sport. The awards are judged by young people, who look for evidence of individuals’ personal growth, leadership and community impact. Our winners all overcome significant challenges to become active citizens, and are unable to ordinarily access the support and development opportunities the Young Achievers Trust provides.
Dean (23), winner of the 2008 community category, began volunteering whilst homeless and living at a Crisis shelter. He dedicated 3 months to organising a music event for homeless artists. Other winners included Nick (18) who has ADHD, Rikki (21) who left school without qualifications and was not in education, employment or training, and Pip (17) who left school at 15 following severe bullying.
Our unique package of support and development opportunities
A key differentiating feature of the Young Achievers Awards is the unique one-year package of support and development opportunities provided to winners and runners-up. This package enables young volunteers to grow and develop their voluntary work by learning new skills and developing as individuals, accessing new contacts and funding opportunities and being supported to create quality volunteering opportunities for other young people.
In 2008, the top eight winners were given £1,000 to develop their volunteering projects and a personalised money can’t buy opportunity. These included a guided tour and lunch at the House of Lords with Lord Macdonald and a day shadowing the Executive Director of Friends of the Earth. The 48 runners up were awarded cash prizes to invest in their projects ranging from £50 to £250.
Winners and runners-up were supported to access other forms of support including youth-led funding opportunities such as the UnLtd Sport Relief Awards. Our partnership with the RSA provides access to experienced mentors.
Media coverage of the award ceremony, which was attended by Beverley Hughes (Minister for Children, Young People and Families) and Gerry Sutcliffe (Minister for Sport), reached an audience of 5 million people.
The Trust is building on the legacy of the Whitbread Voluntary Awards, a respected national award programme that for 25 years sought to honour exceptional volunteers. When Whitbread’s community investment priorities changed in 2005, the Young Achievers Trust was founded by a consortium including YouthNet, UnLtd and CIVA. This was supported by Whitbread who donated £50,000 and v, who invested £50,000
Our approach
Youth-led: our youth-led approach is integral in ensuring the organisation is relevant to young people, and that the work we deliver is effective and needs focussed. Over 100 young volunteers were involved in the 2008 programme including photography, branding and judging. The Trust is led by a trustee board of 11 young people.
Collaboration: we believe that we can have the greatest impact by working in partnership. Our current partners include YouthNet, the RSA and UnLtd.
