| Where have all the good news stories about young people gone? |
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Young people are making positive contributions to their communities
across the UK and coming up with innovative new ways to improve
society. These were the findings of ’CHANGEit’ last year - an awards
campaign to recognise and support the achievements of young people,
supported by Deutsche Bank and run by Common Purpose.
Young people are making positive contributions to their communities across the UK and coming up with innovative new ways to improve society. These were the findings of ’CHANGEit’ last year - an awards campaign to recognise and support the achievements of young people, supported by Deutsche Bank and run by Common Purpose. Nominations for this year’s awards open today – and young campaigners are being urged to come forward and take part. The public is also being asked to nominate young people they know who are making an outstanding contribution to their community, and the best campaigns stand to win a £750 cash prize. CHANGEit is an annual awards programme run by international leadership organisation Common Purpose which recognises young people who have campaigned for change. They are not about sitting in a classroom and getting high grades but about getting out into the community and changing it for the better. All types of campaigns are welcomed. Last year’s winners included Matthew, 18, from Milton Keynes, who suffers from Dyspraxia and who created an online forum for young people to chat about the issues they face with the illness. Emma, Jamie and Lewis, who are all 14 and from Edinburgh, started We Want to Work, a campaign to create work experience for young people under the age of 16 that provides practical training and skills. CHANGEit will award prizes in three categorie: Innovation Prize: to enable young campaigners to get their idea off the ground. The prize money is to be used as seed money to help develop their campaign. Performance Prize: for young people who have run a successful campaign that has made a positive change in society. This prize is a recognition of their campaigning efforts. Young Campaigners Photo Contest: for young people’s photographs of ‘campaigning in action’ that have been started or helped by other young people. Twelve short-listed images will be selected to be displayed in a CHANGEit photo exhibition to be held in various locations in central London. Julia Middleton, Chief Executive of Common Purpose, explains the importance of rewarding and supporting the success of young people: “It seems like there is a new story every week of youth committing serious crimes and this is overshadowing the amazing work that young people are doing in their communities throughout the UK. The CHANGEit awards highlight and remind people of the valuable role that young people have in our society.” Launched in early October, the CHANGEit awards are open to receive nominations until 12 January 2009. The prizes will be announced in May, and the Innovation Prize and Performance Prize winners will be presented with a prize of £750 towards their campaign, and the Young Campaigners Photo Contest winners will receive a prize of £250, by GMTV presenter Ben Shephard at a ceremony in London. If you would like to nominate yourself or a young person you know, please contact Common Purpose on 020 7608 8148 or go to the website www.changeit.org.uk where you can find info about this year’s awards and submit nominations online. Common Purpose is an independent, leadership development organisation which aims to improve the way society works. Common Purpose operates throughout the UK and world-wide in Ireland, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, India, The Netherlands, Sweden, South Africa and Turkey. For further info log onto www.commonpurpose.org.uk. Deutsche Bank Corporate Social Responsibility UK manages the Bank’s employee volunteering programmes, charitable giving and community partnerships, with a particular focus on supporting education, community development and art. In 2007 alone Deutsche Bank made donations of over £3.5m and approximately 1,200 employees volunteered with community projects in London. Log on to www.communityuk.db.com for more info. |