University of the First Age

15 young people received Awards from Rt Hon Tim Loughton, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families at House of Commons for the outstanding contributions they have made as Young Leaders, through the national charity, the University of the First Age (UFA). The event was hosted by Jo Swinson MP on 15th November in the Palace of Westminster.

The Outstanding Achievement Award winners included young people who had volunteered to set up and run clubs for their peers on Friday evenings, young people who had worked with teachers to co construct the curriculum with their peers and young people who had become influential role models in their schools and communities.
Rt Hon Tim Loughton, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families said ''The young leaders receiving awards today epitomise just what young people can contribute to their communities given the opportunity.

I am really pleased that the University of the First Age is also one of the providers delivering National Citizen Service (NCS) in 2012. NCS is one of this Government's most exciting policies. It is not just about volunteering, but personal development, social mixing, community engagement, transition to adulthood and rites of passage. I am delighted that even more young people will benefit from this pioneering programme as we roll it out across the country."

The UFA's programme, 'Lead It! was also nationally launched following a successful pilot with over 600 young people involved from across the country, some of whom were collecting the Awards. Lead It! provides training and support for young people to become inspiring young leaders and be actively involved in their schools and the communities. The programme includes Peer Tutoring, developing Lead Learners to run fun and exciting clubs for their peers, Young Researchers and Evaluators and Students of Today, Leaders of Tomorrow.

UFA Chief Executive, Linda Gregory comments: 'Through UFA's Young People's Leadership Programmes we have worked with some inspiring young people who have given a huge commitment to their peers and their communities and we are delighted to be able to celebrate them in our first national Young Leaders' Awards. We are working in partnership with schools and organisations to provide these opportunities and we are seeing the impact the programmes are making to achievements and raising standards.'

During the event, we heard a keynote address from the Minister, there were also presentations from three of the UFA Young Leaders, Steven Moffatt from Yeovil, Inez Sarkodee-Adoo from London and Kim Davis and Katie Piper from Norfolk. Mrs Massett, Headteacher at Hemsworth School gave a presentation on the positive impact the UFA programme had had on the young people and school and we were also delighted to hear from Dr Williams, Executive Headteacher at North Huddersfield Trust School who set out his vision for UFA and young people's leadership within his new school.

Jo Swinson MP, who was the youngest MP when she was elected, inspired the young people by sharing some of her own journey.