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CHANGEit is prepping for it’s next round of awards, but there are so many opportunities available for young campaigners! The Sheila McKechnie Foundation runs a number of awards for campaigners of all ages and they’re accepting applications now.

Out of the 12 award categories, three are specifically for young people. All have slightly different criteria.

The ‘Shout Out’ Award is for young campaigners aged between 15-18, living in London. You could be campaigning alone or in a group of up to five people – whether it’s gun and knife crime, recycling in schools or bullying, we want to hear from you. This award is sponsored by The City Bridge Trust.

The Young Activist Award is targeted at young campaigners, aged 16-24, who are supported by Foyers, YMCAs and similar organisations anywhere in the UK. If you have the drive and passion to change something in your community, even if you have limited experience of campaigning this award could be for you. The Young Activist Award is sponsored by YMCA England and the Foyer Federation.

The Global Action Award supports 18-24 year olds based within the UK, who are working towards global justice, challenging the root causes of world poverty, international conflict, environmental destruction or human rights abuses. The award was set up in memory of Guy Hughes, an inspirational campaigner and activist who died tragically in a mountaineering accident in 2006. The award is sponsored by Guy’s parents, David and Lynda Hughes, individual donations, and BOND (British Overseas NGOs for Development).

The awards are given to individuals who show passion, tenacity and potential to create change for the better, or stop change that will make things worse – locally, nationally or globally.

Closing date for entries to the Sheila McKechnie awards is Tuesday 30th June 2009. To enter, visit www.sheilamckechnie.org.uk, or call 020 7700 8231.

And stick around for more details about the next round of CHANGEit awards!

Supported by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA), the English Secondary Students’ Association (ESSA) is going to make a students’ Manifesto for Education which it can present to policy-makers to influence the future development of education policy in England.

To gain students’ views ESSA is holding a competition for students to produce short videos in which they outline their suggestions for constructive changes to the education system. The winning entries will be featured on national television later this year, thanks to the collaboration with media sponsor Channel 4.

Young people aged 11-19 will be enabled to submit their videos for change under any one of five categories. The category titles have been left open to interpretation enabling young people to express their views on any related subject.

The categories are:
• Teaching & Learning
• Where we learn
• Enjoying Education
• Student Voice and Leadership
• Future of Education

ESSA is a national organisation run by and for young people aged 11-19. It seeks to ensure that young people have the skills and confidence they need to speak out about educational issues affecting them.

To find out more about the video competition and manifesto go to studentvoice.tv

Or contact Julia Wilson at video@studentvoice.co.uk

CHANGEit Innovation awards are all about great ideas. We know that in order to create change and take action, you have to have the idea first. But brainstorming creative ways to tackle an issue or problem isn’t always easy. But help is at hand!

The North East Business & Innovation Centre has a division called Big Ideas. They’ve developed a Big Idea Generator to help you think up new ideas! Just type in your question or problem, and it’ll ask you a whole variety of weird questions to help you think about all the aspects of your issue. You never know what ideas it’ll help you come up with.

When you have your great idea, submit it for an Innovation award and you could win the training and funding to get your big idea off the ground. Go ahead…get generating!

Our friends at Bold Animation have recently completed work on a campaign for young people.

Featuring as part of Nickelodeon UK’s award-winning See Something Say Something anti-bullying campaign, they produced four documentary animation films which aim to educate kids and offer advice about the facts of bullying to support National Anti-Bullying Week.

You can watch the four documentary animations at www.nick.co.uk/saysomething.

Having interviewed young people across the UK, the films are shot from the perspective of The Bully, The Bullied, and The Witness.

In association with Childline, the aim of the season is to empower young people to speak out if they see someone being bullied; are a victim themselves and unite against bullying. Take a look and don’t forget…if you See something Say something!

Campaigning isn’t always an easy task. You have to be committed to your cause and have lots of friends to help. Sometimes there are also lots of things you need to know…how to work with the media, how to fundraise, what marketing tactics will work best – it can all get quite confusing!

CHANGEit is here to help though. We’ve put together a bunch of resources and tips to help you with your campaigning. But we know we can do more.

We want to hear from you! What would help you CHANGEit? Leave us a comment below or send us an email at changeit@commonpurpose.org.uk. We’ll gather all your thoughts and do what we can to help!

If you’re planning to go to the cinema any time soon, keep and eye out for CHANGEit. Common Purpose and Deutsche Bank have launched a batch of cinema postcards to help spread the word about the opportunities available through CHANGEit. So keep your eyes peeled and if you find them, post them to friends, family and colleagues who might know someone to nominate, hand them out to friends who have ideas for campaigns or pin them up on your wall and nominate yourself!

Remember…you don’t have to be a superhero to make a positive change in the world. Anyone can CHANGEit!

Are you savvy with a camera but need a subject? Why not take pictures of young people volunteering or campaigning!

CHANGEit is looking for photos of young people and ‘campaigning in action’. We want to see all the great things young people are doing so we can help spread the word! Is there a volunteer group in your area that is making positive change? Do you have a friend who has taken action to change something in their school, club or community? Do you participate in campaign activities? Take your camera or borrow someone elses and get snapping!

CHANGEit has prizes of £250 for winning entries and will display all finalist photos at an exhibition in central London and online.

It’s a terrific opportunity! Find out more about the photography contest.

The next round of CHANGEit awards is coming up soon!

This year, prizes are available in 3 categories:

Innovation
for young people who have big ideas but need help getting them off the ground

Performance
for young people who have already launched campaigns that are making a difference

Photography
a photo contest for young people to capture campaigning and change in action

So put on your thinking caps, nominate yourself or your friends and dust off your camera to find the change that’s happening throughout the uk.

Nominations will open on 1 October.