Newport student wins national award and speaks at labour’s conference
A Newport student has become one of the first ever winners of the national Youth Voice Award and joined panelists including Andy Burnham MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Education, to debate ‘What’s Youth Got to do with it?’ during the Labour Party’s annual conference held in Liverpool.
After speaking up for local young people at the conference – which is taking place in Liverpool between 25 – 29 September – Madison Rogers, a student at the Adams’ Grammar School, Newport, was presented with the Youth Voice Award by Len Wardle, Chair of The Co-operative Group, becoming only the second-ever recipient of the new award in the UK.
The award, developed by the British Youth Council (BYC), was made possible by The Co-operative Group which, as part of its commitment to inspiring young people, provided bursaries enabling 200 young people from across the UK to complete the nationally recognised accreditation.
On receiving the Youth Voice Award, Madison Rogers, 16, said: “It’s great to receive the Award. I worked on five new projects for the award including an anti-bullying campaign, which I’m really excited about as it’s launching in local schools in October. It was a really valuable experience, especially because it gave me the rare chance to reflect on some of the work I’m involved in, evaluate it and look to really think about developing it further.”
Michael Fairclough, The Co-operative Group’s Head of Community and Co-operative Investment, added: “The Co-operative’s commitment to inspiring young people is all about encouraging, engaging and recognising the positive contribution of young people. We have been delighted to be able to develop this award with the British Youth Council to recognise many of the young people who work so hard to make a positive difference in their local communities.”
The ASDAN accredited award is the first of its kind to recognise the work that young people do in youth councils across the country, to ensure young people’s views are represented in local decision making.
Liam Preston, BYC Chair, added: “BYC believes in recognising and supporting young peoples' passion for issues that matter to them and their conviction that working together can lead to positive change in the future – we hope that Madison is amongst the first of thousand’s of recipients of the national Youth Voice Award!"
Madison Rogers, who is studying A-Levels at Adams’ Grammar School, Newport, (Shropshire), hopes to go on to study history and politics at University before pursuing a career in politics. Madison’s political career has already got off to a promising start - Madison was elected a member of the UK Youth Parliament for Newcastle and the Staffordshire Moorlands in October 2010 and, is a member of Staffordshire's Youth Action Kouncil (YAK).
For more information about the British Youth Council and the Youth Voice award, visit www.byc.org.uk
