"Reaching for Gold is a new competition to encourage innovation and
creativity in young people - essential skills for the industries that will
lead us out of recession. 14-19 year olds across the South East are invited
to put forward ideas that can make a practical difference to society. The
themes for the competition are Youth, Community and Disability.
Online applications are being sought from across the South East,
particularly targeting those living or working with disadvantage or
disability, through Community & Voluntary Organisations and/or schools. The
competition is now 'open for applications' and will close at 5pm on the 21st
August 2009. All the documentation, guidance and resources are available on
the website: www.reachingforgold.org.uk
Our intention with Reaching for Gold is for this to form a natural extension
to the work you are doing, to add value to your existing activities, and
provide an outlet for practical activity linked to citizenship, PHSE or PRE
classes (or any others!).
Nine winning applicants will then be selected in September, to work
intensively with both Corporate and Voluntary Sector Partners to develop
their ideas and project management skills in a series of structured business
development sessions. An empowerment package of prizes will be awarded to
each of the nine groups to facilitate the idea development stage, including
a Toshiba NB100 Laptop, a Mobile Notes E-Pen and a Sony DSC-SX30 camcorder.
The competition will culminate with the young people pitching their projects
to a 'Dragon's Den' style panel at Windsor Castle on 15th December 2009,
followed by an awards ceremony (we will contribute to travel costs on the
day). We are expecting that a number of dignitaries will attend including
ASIMO the Honda Humanoid Robot.
All finalists will receive mounted certificates. The participants in the top
three groups will each receive a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal and the
overall winner will take home the Reaching for Gold Trophy (theirs for a
year!). In addition to that, the organisation that puts forward their young
people and wins, will receive a cheque for £5000 to help work up the winning
idea further.
Reaching for Gold is a Create, Compete, Collaborate project and is supported
by SEEDA and 9 leading global companies - BT, Cisco, Honda, Huawei, Intel,
Legal & General, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Sony and Toshiba."
All the information you need is on the website:
www.reachingforgold.org.ukdavid
