Innovation
Innovation awards are for young people who want to make positive change happen, but need support to get started
Meet the 2010 Innovation finalists!
Who are Innovation awards for?
Innovation awards are for young people who have a campaign idea or plan for creating change, but need help getting their idea off the ground. Young people like:
- Eilidh and Dania, aged 14, from Edinburgh who set up a full day of football and other activities for their school to raise funds for charity and connect with a neighboring special needs school.
- Ami, Jamie-lee, Jayde, Danielle, Jake and Callum, aged 14, from Hartlepool who are the Friends of Heriot Grange. The group visit a local elderly home once a month and are starting to organizing outings, visits to their school and get more students to volunteer.
Finalists and Prizes
The winners will receive a prize of £750 to directly benefit their campaign; they will also be offered a mentor or work experience to help them in their journey to achieving their campaign’s goals. Five runners-up will receive £250 for their campaign. An online public vote will also be run to award one popular vote winner a prize of £250.
Finalists will present their ideas to a panel of judges in a “dragon’s den” style pitch. Three campaigns will be selected as winners and announced at the award ceremony. Throughout the year following, CHANGEit will keep track of their work and offer support for their campaign.
Innovation Training
Eight finalists will be invited to a training event to develop a plan to take their idea or project forward. Training will cover campaign planning, team-working, marketing, fundraising, presentation and media skills. Finalists will also be given a blog to help keep track of campaign progress and kick-start their campaign promotion.
How can I nominate a campaign?
Nominations can be made by supporters or observers like teachers, youth workers or parents. Young people can alos nominate themselves as they will be the ones taking their ideas forward. The awards are for individuals and groups and you can nominate as many ideas as you want. Simply fill out the nomination form and send in an Innovation project plan. The judges are looking for creative ideas tackling important issues, but campaigns can be big or small.
CHANGEit nominations will be accepted from 8 October 2009 until 11 December 2009.
Read the Innovation category guidelines.
Check out the Innovation blogs for last year’s finalist campaigns.
