Young Ambassadors
The Young Ambassadors are a group of young people aged 14-25 who are encouraged to use their individual and collective skills to promote the anti-racism, equality and diversity ideals of the Anthony Walker Foundation. The program sets out to aid our young people in their personal development and give them the opportunity to gain the skills necessary to become tomorrow’s community leaders.
Our Young Ambassadors are an extremely diverse group, but they all share the same passion and values. Ambassadors meet up fortnightly and develop their own community projects, attend various events as representatives of the AWF, help facilitate the educational workshops in schools and youth clubs, fundraise for the charity and most importantly have fun.
Interested in becoming an AWF Young Ambassador? You need to be between 16 and 25. Call us on 0151 237 3974 or contact us at JLIB_HTML_CLOAKING
Meet some of our Ambassadors...
Ben Goes To Norway!
One of our young ambassadors Ben Osu travelled to Norway this month as part of a project with the DCLP and British Council Youth In Action Programme. Here’s his account.
So, earlier this month I went to Oslo, Norway to visit the Nobel Peace Centre as part of a politic programme I am doing with another organisation. Not taking into account the sheer expensiveness of the trip, it was a very good and successful journey.
One of the aims or reasons for going was to see how different their culture was from ours, back in the UK. Their streets were spotless, their cars were top of the range Mercedes and BMW’s (including the taxi’s), and the people were really friendly welcoming. It seems like the perfect place to live.
Not that dissimilar from Liverpool, they had the same type of architecture, and were based on a lovely river. You could call it Norway’s, London. However the prices there were astronomically bad. The get taxed 45% on their earnings, a sandwich costs around 8.00 and the taxi from the airport, which is around the same distance from Liverpool to Manchester airport was around 500.00.
The police are very strict, and the crime rate their is quite low. You can get stopped and possibly arrested for offenses such as J Walking. However, they rarely arrest anyone. Instead they will take it out of them financially, which in Norway is worst than being arrested.
So to conclude – would I live their? Yes. Would I make sure I was a billionaire first? Hell Yeah.
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Adam Sexton
I have been a Young Ambassador for over a year now, having progressed from the Tackling Racism Youth Group in Garston, the Anthony Walker Foundation seemed the ideal group for me to join when I got to Sixth Form. The experience has helped me grow in lots of ways. My communication skills have improved a lot and I am no longer nervous about public speaking!
Working with young people, presenting workshops to educate them about human rights, discrimination, racism and of course bullying has enabled me to make a contribution to making my community a better safer place for everyone – especially young people. I’ve learned that many people sometimes don’t see their own prejudice or realise that their behaviour is racist – or bullying of others. The battle to uphold human rights in every corner of the world is a responsibility we all share. Young people must have a voice and be supported to contribute to society and make a difference.
I will be going to university in September to study politics. My experience as an Ambassador for the Anthony Walker Foundation has helped mould my ambition to work in politics and international relations so I can play my part in bringing an end to injustice.
I have just returned from a Council of Europe International Conference in Strasbourg, staged to bring together organisations that work with young people using sport as a way to break down barriers and bring humanity together. The recent world cup is a fantastic example of this! The London Olympics in 2012 are also a great opportunity for us to celebrate the differences and achievements of all nations. I learned a great deal in Strasbourg and met some amazing people and made new friends from all over Europe! It doesn’t get much better than that!.
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Peter Downey
"The Anthony Walker Foundation has really helped fulfil my passions, such as community cohesion and equal opportunities. Furthermore, the Foundation has significantly helped me in my personal and career development."
I am a youth worker and a student reading Politics and Theology at Liverpool Hope University. I have been a volunteer for the Foundation since the first festival in 2005.
Last year I became an Ambassador Mentor. This has been great fun with outstanding opportunities such as visiting Poland, where I made lots of friends and colleagues.
By becoming an Ambassador Mentor I have also developed my leadership and event management skills, through my role delivering the Schools Programme; delivering workshops on discrimination for young people. The purpose of the workshops is to educate young people about racism and discrimination.
I found this exceptionally rewarding and enjoyable, because the knowledge and facilitation skills that me, and my colleagues, brought to the workshop allowed us to engage with the pupils on a level that allowed open and honest debate about discrimination, racism and equality in a safe environment.
Anthony Walker Foundation has really helped fulfil my passions, such as community cohesion and equal opportunities. Furthermore, the Foundation has significantly helped me in my personal and career development. I am very much excited about the future for the Anthony Walker Foundation.
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Tom Coates
"I love to learn more and more things about communities and social issues and the Foundation helps me to take up such opportunities and contribute to the development of a healthier, happier society."
As a mentor to the AWF Ambassadors I love meeting up with like minded young people to discuss and plan community events and projects. It’s a pleasure to work with the young people of Liverpool in such a vibrant and energetic environment and the passion is visible. As the Ambassador Program expands, I can’t wait to see even more young people taking up the opportunities that the program creates from attending and running conferences to weekend trips away.
Earlier this year, I particularly enjoyed attending the Crown Prosecution Services conference in South Liverpool, as this gave me the opportunity to hear the public’s opinions of the CPS processes and services and compare these to my own. It also gave me an in-depth understanding of who the CPS are and how they work with the police, public and other agencies. The networking that came from this has allowed me to become a valued member of the CPS’s Hate Crime Scrutiny Panel.
Being a volunteer for the Foundation means so much to me, as I love to learn more and more things about communities and social issues and the Foundation helps me to take up such opportunities and contribute to the development of a healthier, happier society.
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Tom Sullivan
"The highlights of the past year for me personally have been our trip to Auschwitz in November which was an experience beyond description, the sheer scale of which was incomprehendable, let alone the details of its past."
I’m Tom, I’m 24 and I’ve been volunteering with the Anthony Walker Foundation’s Young Ambassadors program, as a mentor, for just over a year now; in the hope of gaining experience as a route into further education and a career in either the community or charity sector.
The highlights of the past year, for me personally, have been our trip to Auschwitz in November; an experience which is beyond description. The sheer physical scale was incomprehensible, let alone the details we learnt of its past.
In March, there was the conference at John Moore’s University, held by Love Music Hate Racism, which was incredibly informative and thought provoking.
Above all though, has been the honor and privilege to meet and work with such a wonderful diverse group of enthusiastic young people whose ideals, attitudes and optimism are as much a credit to their city as their generation. Working with these truly great individuals has me extremely exited for the year ahead, the sky’s the limit when it comes to what we can potentially achieve and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all involved.
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Kemmi Health McDonald
In March 2010 I was invited to an anti-Fascism conference in John Moore’s University. It was a full day conference held by “Love Music Hate Racism”. At first I didn’t really know what the conference was about, as I didn’t understand the meaning of fascism, but luckily the first lecture we attended was ‘What Is Fascism’”
I learnt a lot from the conference, especially how fascism can be the stem cause of many different kinds of hate crime, not only racist and that these are all present in today’s society. I personally learnt a lot from the conference and feel more aware of what is going on around me.