Well done to Ballakermeen High School for winning this year’s exciting competition with their chosen charity Gumboots Foundation! Also to Castle Rushen for winning the AFD Advocacy prize for their work in raising awareness of Seed Madagascar. All the teams performed well and here is the press report in full:
Lack of education, poor access to health care and gender inequality were just some of the issues explored by local Year 12 students at the finals of this year’s One World Charity Challenge programme, held last week at Babbage’s, Mountain View Innovation Centre.
The competition, which is the finale of months of work by the students, saw some outstanding presentations performed in front of an invited audience which included Lieutenant Governor Sir John Lorimer and Lady Lorimer, the Minister for Education, other members of Tynwald, invited guests, teachers and families.
Overall winners were the team from Ballakermeen High School representing Gumboots Foundation UK, a charity set up to address poverty and AIDS-related issues in townships and rural areas of South Africa by improving education, nutrition, empowerment and well-being. Their lively and engaging presentation saw them collect the top prize of £1,500 for their charity as well as the Frances Davidson cup. This is the fourth year that teams from Ballakermeen High School have taken the top spot!
Second place were the team from St Ninian’s High School representing Street Child, a charity that works across the world to ensure children are safe, in school and learning. It was clear this team had really engaged with the charity and, among other things, had taken part in a youth summit looking issues Street Child deals with. They won £1,250 for their charity.
Third place went to the team from King William’s College representing Livingstone Trust Tanzania, another charity which helps overcome barriers to education. They picked up £1,000 for this charity which is shortly changing its name to Mikuyu Tanzania.
The remaining two finalists were teams from QEII High School representing Action Village India and Castle Rushen High School representing Seed Madagascar. They both won £750 for their charities with the team from Castle Rushen also picking up the £1,000 AFD Award for Advocacy for their fantastic work in raising awareness of Seed Madagascar in the local community.
Judges for the evening included Lady Lorimer, Ramsey Grammar School headteacher Sonia Taylor, Phil Craine from the One World Centre and Jasmine Cowin, a former Charity Challenge contestant now working for Isle of Man Government. The prizes were kindly presented by the Lieutenant Governor.
Speaking after the event, One World Centre Coordinator Wendy Shimmin said, “As always, the students provided us with a very entertaining evening and much to think about as they explained the work and impact of their chosen charities.
“This year saw a record number of 35 teams taking part in the Challenge so it was already a real achievement for these five teams to get through to the final stage.
“One World Charity Challenge is one of our flagship projects. This programme not only introduces young people to the world of international development and humanitarian aid at a time when they are thinking about their own future choices in life, but offers lots of opportunity to practise key skills such as research, teamwork, organisation, presentation and time-management that will stand them in good stead as they move on to university or into the workforce.
“We are indebted to our judges who had lots to consider on the night, to the charities and link teachers who supported the students, and to the Elizabeth Clucas Charitable Trust and Gough Ritchie Charitable Trust, as well as AFD Software and other donors, for providing the prize money which goes directly to the charities involved.
“We also thank AFD Software for hosting the evening at Babbage’s and for the marvellous technical support they provide to the teams.”
