Ambition, our
chosen charity of the year, has recently announced the winners from the first round of
Ambition Giving, a brand new grant scheme set up in celebration of the charity’s 90th anniversary.
Ambition Giving will offer grants of up to £2,000 throughout the year to groups or individuals to help deliver activities to the young people in their community.
Event Academy’s postgraduate students directly contributed towards the
Ambition Giving fund, after collectively raising nearly £10,000 at their competing
fundraising events back in December. We were extremely impressed with the standard and professionalism of both events, and are delighted that the money raised will help transform the lives of young people across the UK.
Kate Chester, Director of Development and Partnerships at Ambition, said: ‘We are incredibly grateful for the hard work of all the Event Academy students. Thousands of young people will directly benefit from their fantastic fundraising efforts, and will be given the opportunity to develop the skills and confidence they need for a positive future’.
The winners from the first wave of
Ambition Giving include a variety of exciting projects; such as providing disadvantaged young men in Newcastle with the chance to learn cookery skills, and a project that enables young people suffering from physical or learning disabilities to take part in dance and performance based arts activities.
One of the winning projects in Blackburn, Sk8 for Freedom, aims to tackle antisocial behaviour and engage young people that are disinterested in traditional sports activities. Young people will play an active role in designing and building a skate park on the roof of their local Youth Zone, gaining valuable skills such as team work and project management along the way. It’s hoped that being involved in the creation of the skate park will provide young people with a sense of ownership, and lead them to share their passion with others in the local community.
Another winner, Don’t Judge Us, has won funding to support an existing project that gives disadvantaged young people in Devon a voice in their local community and helps challenge negative stereotypes of young people in the media. Two groups are currently working together to write a monthly article in the North Devon Journal, discussing issues such as exam stress, bullying and body image. The project helps young people improve their literacy and writing skills, and acts as a huge boost for many that feel isolated and suffer from low self-esteem.
Event Academy students will plan and manage another two fundraising events in June to raise money for
Ambition Giving, and we’re really looking forward to seeing what exciting plans the groups come up with!
Applications for
Ambition Giving will remain open throughout the year, and groups or individuals can apply for grants of between £500 and £2,000. Find out more about the projects and see a full list of Ambition Giving’s first round winners
here.
