BIG CHALLENGE BLOGS
Youth Leadership Team Blog
Youth Leadership Team - UK wide
We are a group of 12 young people from across the UK that came together to work on the Big Challenge because we are passionate about giving young people opportunities to make a difference. Part of our role has been to short-list all of the applications that we received and now the exciting bit happens where we will help to support the winners and see their projects develop.
05/12/2009 01:30:00
And the winners are...
This weekend, the Youth Leadership Team is meeting the fantastic project winners of this year's Big Challenge. We've come up to Trafford Hall in Chester and have a full few days of introductions, training and planning.
Along with us, the YLT, Abby, Carl and Joe from UnLtd and Laura, Anna and Tiana from Changemakers are here too!
This year's inspiring winners are Abs, Bobby, Julia, Kweku, Lé, Leon, Luqman, Marte, Michael, Oisin, Penny, Peter, Sha, Rich and David; coming from all across the country, from Southsea to Surrey, Devon to Durham and Nottingham to Norwich.
Yesterday we got to hear from each of them a bit more about their projects and what they want to achieve with help from Big Challenge. Each and every one of them has impressed us and it's great to finally meet them in person!
Each member of the YLT (and in some cases two) have been 'buddied up' with a project winner and today we'll be starting to think about how the projects will pan out next year.
Watch this space...
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12/10/2009 12:41:00
A long day, but a short list!
Saturday 10th October saw the YLT reconvene for what was to be a rather long day, with the not inconsiderable task of whittling down more than 150 projects to a shortlist of about 30.
Before the day, we had been split into pairs (and a couple of threes) to go through groups of about 20 projects each. We each read through the projects and decided whether they met all the basic criteria (e.g. involving young people, tackling the Big Challenge theme and so on) and, if they did, we scored each criteria for each project.
A somewhat bleary-eyed YLT met at 9.00am at the uber-cool 'wallacespace' at St Pancras, which apparently used to be a toffee factory, so I'm sure has been witness to more than a few sticky situations in its time!
Each pair or three joined another pair to make groups of 4-5 people and we first exchanged the projects that we didn't think fulfilled at least one of the basic criteria. There were a few disagreements at this point, but with a bit of discussion, we worked them out.
Once this was done, we looked at the other pair's projects that did fulfil all the basic criteria and then gave each project our own score. This meant each project had been looked at by at least 4 people, to make the process as fair and as open as possible.
Inevitably, some groups had been more generous than others with scores, so to try to even this out, we first asked for the top four highest scoring projects from each group of 4-5 people. This gave us 16 projects for our shortlist. To complete our shortlist, we then took the next 14 highest scoring projects from the whole of the YLT.
In the end, this meant that each original pair/three got at least one project onto the shortlist, and whilst there was some disappointment, we really did try to make the process this year as fair and as transparent as possible.
So, who made the shortlist? Well, we'll be in touch, so you'll just have to wait and see! Rest assured though, if you didn't quite make the cut, we have given you some feedback on why and hopefully some advice on other routes you could take.
The most important thing though is that you entered. And if you entered, that means you're interested and engaged in the idea of social enterprise, which is fantastic. It might be that UnLtd or Changemakers can assist you in a different way from Big Challenge, or it could be that there is another organisation or programme out there that would better suit your project. Just don't give up!
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06/09/2009 10:09:00
Big Challenge has conquered Manchester! Thanks to everyone that came and spoke to us and took a flyer, we hope you all feel inspired enough to enter our competition with your amazing ideas!
We had a really good time in Manchester. Our team of 19 orange t-shirts marched the high street and spoke to a lot of inspiration young people all taking an interest in their community. You also took on our
Marsh Mallow Mini Challenge - the champion got a whomping 30 in his mouth as one go!
Our only unexpected problem was young children... If you're reading, give our balloons back!!
Thank you all our volunteers - Amie, Sharon, Ahmed, Kenny, Carine, John, Enock, Evodi, Jemima and Peter! And sorry that Mo couldn't make it!
See you soon! Enter the competition!
Ellie, Miffy, Sadia and Tom!
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03/09/2009 09:04:00
Big Challenge is coming to Manchester!
Hi Everyone!
Big Challenge will be in Manchester on Saturday 5th September to get you guys involved! We'll be at Exchange Square, central Manchester and we're going to have lots of fun things for you to do! You'll also get a chance to talk to our Youth Leadership Team and learn how to enter an amazing idea into our competition. The competition closes at the end of September so if you're nearby, come down and see us. You may even get some ideas! We'll be there about 11 til 4, and we'll be wearing ORANGE!
We'll get back to organising the event now, see you in Manchester!
Ellie, Tom, Miffy, Sadia and Mo!
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18/07/2009 19:31:00
The Big Challenge at TED
Hi all
Next week The Big Challenge will be at TED. If your struggling for ideas or inspiration then go check out their website on www.ted.com
It's a collection of talks from very inspirational people and a showcase of some amazing projects from all over the world.
But remember "How can you create unity in your community?"
It's "Your Chance, everybody's change!"
Take care
Tobi Lawal
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07/07/2009 11:52:00
Tackling today’s issues at 2morro
The YLT were at ‘2morro’ at County Hall in London on Saturday, launching the Big Challenge in style to hundreds of young people.
Running under the strap line of ‘it’s our future and we can shape it’, 2morro brought together more than 30 organisations made up of young people working to further social change.
The YLT spent the day presenting other young people with mini challenges, including blowing up as many balloons as possible in a minute. You’ll be pleased to know that the blown up balloons didn’t go to waste, as we then got people to write on ideas about how they would create unity in their community...
Some great ideas came out, including a community holding an international festival, putting a comedy night on in a care home for the elderly to bring in young people and mix up the generations, as well as encouraging people to make more use of their local community facilities.
Our session included a fantastic presentation by Miffy and Vanessa, a bidding competition judged by James, Ellie and Tobi, where we awarded £200 to Yori and Simran to set up a cultural dance club, and was finished off by a breathtaking dance performance from Vicious.
It was great to hear so many young people coming up with ideas for The Big Challenge, so hopefully we’ll see even more applications than last year! Remember, the deadline is 28th September 2009.
We want as many young people as possible involved in tackling social issues today, so all of us can enjoy a brighter and better tomorrow :)
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15/06/2009 09:17:00
The Youth Leadership Team 2009
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14/06/2009 20:52:00
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14/06/2009 13:51:00
Youth Leadership Team Residential First Blog
Youth Leadership Team Residential First Blog!
So, the theme, possibly the most exciting decision we made all weekend - after almost three hours of debate - is 'community and cultural unity'.
We were split into four groups to discuss a variety of different themes, which included issues around sustainability, identity, economic deprivation, and anti-social behaviour. In the end we had to present all of our ideas and vote for which one the YLT could get the most applications and interest from.
All of the ideas were strong and relevant to the Big Challenge however we choose this theme for year 2 because it allows a broad range of issues to be addressed within it and start to address the the roots of large problems with communities and cultures. Hopefully this will enable people to build a common ground and unite together to make to a positive difference to our world.
Year 2 There's a lot more to come!!!
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14/06/2009 13:41:00
Post 1
Hi everyone,
This is Big Challenge Year 2, Reidential! Have a really great time - and chose a fantastic theme! :)
Youth Leadership Team 2009! yay
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