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What an award winning Community Partnership looks like at the Global Good Awards:
2017 winners UK Youth and Microsoft
The GGA are about celebrating organisations that are bringing more ethical, responsible and sustainable approaches to the way we live and do business. Recognising those that are taking the lead, and applying their vision to create successful business, with positive impacts. We aim to help share their experiences so that we can all improve together, and inspire one and other as we go.
In the run up to the 2018 Global Good Awards we have been catching up with winners from previous years; asking them to share their experiences: what made them GGA winners; what it’s like to attend the award ceremony; and what they have been up to since they won.
This month we are featuring UK Youth, whose partnership with Microsoft won the 2017 Global Good Award in the best Individual Community Partnership category.
We spoke with Emma Roberts, to find out what makes a winning community partnership, what work UK Youth and Microsoft have been doing since the 2017 awards, and why the GGA are the awards for good business and a great time!
Tell us about the partnership between UK Youth and Microsoft, which won you the award in 2017…
We were really pleased to win a Global Good Award last year in the Individual Community Partnership category for our digital literacy programme, run in partnership with Microsoft. Our established and innovative programme has empowered thousands of young people with the skills, technology and courage to build a bright future in an increasingly digital world.
Our digital literacy work with Microsoft is delivered through UK Youth’s network of youth organisations, which reaches over four million young people. 77% of the young people on our programmes are from some of the most deprived areas of the UK and after engaging with a UK Youth programme, 88% report improved life skills such as confidence, resilience and motivation.
Between 2014 and the time on our nomination, our partnership with Microsoft had engaged over 17,000 young people with digital opportunities. During 2014-15, we created 45 Microsoft Youth Hubs, providing local youth organisations with funding of £3-10k to invest in the necessary technology and staff resource to support peer-led digital skills projects. In 2016, the project expanded with the creation of Generation Code, a practical and targeted curriculum aiming to inspire the next generation of coders. The programme recognised young people’s need for supported access to IT outside of school and has demonstrated positive impacts including increased motivation, resilience and digital technology skills.
Our long-standing partnership with Microsoft works towards our mission of providing all young people with access to appropriate, high quality youth services in their local area.
What did winning at the GGA mean for UK Youth? What did you enjoy about the experience?
Winning a Global Good Award was fantastic. It was great to receive recognition for our work on improving young people’s digital skills and our long-standing partnership with Microsoft. The value of this award provided real momentum in continuing and expanding the programme.
The Awards provided us with a platform to showcase our innovative programme and peer-education approach to delivery. The GGA helped raise the profile of the project and most importantly, brought the conversation about young people’s digital skills to a national level.
The award ceremony itself was truly inspiring. It was great to hear about so many fantastic partnership and projects and we particularly enjoyed hearing about Project Dirt’s ‘outdoor classroom day’ which is really aligned to our with our work at our outdoor centre, Avon Tyrrell.
Finally, what has UK Youth been doing since the 2017 ceremony?
Since winning the Global Good award, we have continued to build on our digital skills work with Microsoft. Generation Code has continued to grow and evolve as a project. This year we’ve introduced an additional layer of peer- education by training young Code Champions with basic coding skills to help engage their peers in computer science opportunities through their local youth clubs. The programme has now reached over 11,000 young people, inspiring them to get creative and get coding.
We’ve also broadened our digital skills work further. We launched Digi-Know, a programme that addresses the lack of basic digital skills in young people, in partnership with Nominet Trust. The programme targets those who are facing personal, circumstantial or systemic barriers which could lead to digital exclusion, and empowers them to access a world that is now digital-by-default.
As a charity, we’ve also continued to build on our work to empower young people to build bright futures. In the last year we’ve invested £4.8 million back into the sector, launched three new skills development programmes, and strengthened and grown our membership network of youth organisations. You can find out more about our work on our website or in our Annual Review.
Celebrate excellence in social impact and sustainability: Join us at the 2018 GGA Ceremony
You don’t have to be an entrant to come along to the GGA ceremony! If you’re involved in social impact or sustainability, the GGA is the place to be! From our ‘eco-tie’ dress code, to our completely vegan menu, we aim to set the standard for sustainable events, and we want to share our learnings with you.
Join us at the 2018 Global Good Awards, to celebrate and meet the people pioneering sustainability and social impact!
Find out why you should join us at the awards ceremony, here >>
