A huge well done to the St Ninian’s Charity Challenge Team, representing Tree Aid, who were awarded second prize and also the AFD Award for Advocacy, which meant they won £3,000 for their chosen charity.
This was the sixteenth edition of One World Charity Challenge which is an annual project for Year 12 students on the Isle of Man. Small teams choose a charity working in the field of international development, researching it, advocating for it and drawing together a multimedia presentation which is delivered in front of a live audience. The teams must also show how the charity addresses the aims of the UN Sustainable Development Goals which aim to shape a fairer and more sustainable world for all.
The project was kindly enabled this year through the sponsorship of Gary and Susan Clueit, who have supported educational opportunities, mostly for women, in sub-Saharan Africa for many years through their charity foundation. All the charities in this year’s Charity Challenge are working in Africa and all those not being represented in the grand finals event each received a donation of £150 on behalf of the teams representing them.
Speaking after the event, One World Charity Challenge Project Officer Helen Kneale said, “The finals night is culmination of six months of work by the teams who have already taken part in in-school heats to get to the finals. Overall, we had 21 teams of young people taking part who all had the opportunity to learn about charities working in international development and to understand how their own actions could make a difference to their chosen charity’s aims. As well as encouraging young people to become global citizens, the project provides lots of useful transferable skills such as research, presenting, teamwork and time management that will be extremely beneficial for future university and job applications.”
Many thanks to Mrs Donaldson and Mrs Crellin for their support of the students who embark on this project.