Fairway Court Garden

Ryan, age 17, from Westham was fed up with bad press about young people in his local area and decided to take action to show that young people can do more than cause trouble. He recruited a number of young people to design and build the Bedford Rose Garden at a local elderly residence. The garden, which they maintain since the residents aren’t able to, has become a symbol of their good work and already changed perceptions about young people in their town.

Fundraising for Schizophrenia Awareness

Heather, age 13, from Edinburgh has a mother with Schizophrenia and wanted to raise awareness and funds about the condition because a lot of people don’t understand the condition. Along with a friend, she dressed up in her pajamas and stood on streets in Edinburgh handing out informational leaflets and collecting donations for the National Schizophrenia Fellowship. She plans to continue to try to raise awareness and increase the more than £2,500 she’s already raised for the cause.
Help Heather raise more money through JustGiving.com

Duxford Massive

Joe, Karina, Rachael, Kristina and Joe, aged 15-16, from Cambridgeshire campaigned to set up the Duxford Massive, a youth club, in their rural town after a young boy was assaulted and complaints were made about youth antisocial behaviour. Now young people have a place they can go to hang out, socialise and stay off the streets in the evenings.
Visit the Duxford Massive website

Who Cares?

Dede, Ian, Holly and Kirsty, aged 16-18, from Co. Durham are all young carers who wanted to raise awareness about what it’s like to be a young carer. They developed displays and hosted events called Who Cares? to raise awareness amongst their peers and to provide information and training for teachers, youth workers and local authorities who work with young carers.

Hear 2 Help

Faye, age 17, from Powys Wales was bullied in primary school and though the bullying stopped when she arrived in secondary school, she felt there was a need to create a peer mentoring group for younger students. She set up and still runs and manages the Hear2Help peer mentoring scheme within her school that has lunchtime drop-ins for students to talk to a 6th form student volunteer, a website and email address so students can deal with issues anonymously and assemblies about bullying issues.
Check out Hear2Help on Bebo

Youth Anti-Binge Drinking

A Youth Action Group in Stockport with 9 members, aged 14-18, took on the task of raising awareness in their local areas and schools about an Anti-Binge Drinking campaign. They created a DVD and have run sessions in schools to provide peer education on the dangers in the hopes that young people will have a better understanding and drink responsibly when they get older.

Time4Change

The Time4Change group, aged 13-18, from York are all young people with varying special needs. Though many go to special schools, some had attended mainstream schools in the past and felt that there are a number of very small changes schools can make to ensure that there is better access and inclusion in the school atmosphere. They toured a number of schools and created a DVD and booklet to help schools think about simple, inexpensive changes they can make, from changing paint colour to putting in ramps.

Dare 2 Dance

Brad, Chris and Sam, aged 14-16, from Portsmouth wanted to help change stereotypes about boys who dance and set up their own ‘lads only’ dance company called Dare2Dance. They collaborate on all choreography, teach junior classes every Saturday for boys in the community and do performances in their school and local area to help fund the company and keep it running.