Press release 15 May 2008

Young people from Edinburgh hailed as one of the UK's new pioneers

Young people from Castlebrae Community High School in Edinburgh have been honoured for their pioneering campaign idea. Lewis Blackley, Jamie McGovern and Emma McKie, age 13-14, won a Deutsche Bank CHANGEit award yesterday for their campaign idea, We want to work. They were presented with the CHANGEit prize by GMTV presenter Ben Shephard at a ceremony in London. Run by international leadership organisation Common Purpose and sponsored by Deutsche Bank, the CHANGEit awards aim to show that young people can make positive changes to society and to recognise the achievements and ambitions of young people, between the ages of 11-18, who are already doing so. The awards have nothing to do with academic achievement or exam grades, but everything to do with good citizenship and positive action. Lewis, Jamie and Emma, age 13-14, won an Innovation award for their campaign idea, We want to work.

The group want to create work experience for individuals under 16 that can provide practical training and skills and give them exposure to a variety of jobs they might want to pursue in the future. They feel job experience is very important, but there aren't many options for under 16's to try things out. The ‘We Want to Work' campaign has also been generously supported by Miller Developments - part of The Miller Group, the UK's largest privately owned Housebuilding, Property Development and Construction business. Miller Developments recognised the terrific potential of their student work-scheme idea and contributed funds to ensure Lewis, Jamie and Emma could attend the ceremony where they pitched their idea to the judges and received their award.

Common Purpose Chief Executive, Julia Middleton, praises the finalists: "The We Want to Work campaign would create tremendous opportunities for young people in Edinburgh. It shows how young people can have a valuable leadership role in society."

In the face of mounting news coverage of youth crime, young people from around the UK have been trailblazing positive change in their local communities through unique projects and campaigns. Now they have been honoured for these pioneering projects through the Deutsche Bank CHANGEit Awards.

Campaigns to help young people to manage their money or to providing networking sites for young people with hidden disabilities are among the winners of the CHANGEit awards. Winners were presented with the CHANGEit prize by GMTV presenter Ben Shephard at a ceremony in London yesterday.   Run by international leadership organisation Common Purpose and sponsored by Deutsche Bank, the CHANGEit awards aim to show that young people can make positive changes to society and to recognise the achievements and ambitions of young people, between the ages of 11-18, who are already doing so. The awards have nothing to do with academic achievement or exam grades, but everything to do with good citizenship and positive action.

CHANGEit consists of two categories: The Innovation awards, for young people who have big ideas that deserve to reach their full potential, and the Performance awards, for young people who deserve to have their campaigning efforts recognised. The winners in these categories are: Performance winners ·       Matthew, 18, from Milton Keynes, who suffers from Dyspraxia, created Matts-Hideout.co.uk when he was 11. It began as a website for him to talk about his frustrations with his disorder. He soon had a number of readers and the website expanded into a forum for young people from all over the UK and internationally to chat online about the issues they face with Dyspraxia. ·

Marley, Georgina, Sian and Skyler, who are aged between 13-16, from Tairgwaith, Wales, came up with Circle of Youth and began producing regular newsletters to inform people about local activities and the history of their community. They have since produced 20 newsletters, a DVD on the history of their small town and spearheaded the construction of a garden for the local community to enjoy.   ·       Simon, Jay, Rebecca, Kieran, Dean, Claire, Michelle, Celli, Nathan and Amy are a group of 15 - 24 year olds from Wigan, who actively raising awareness of lesbian, gay and bi-sexual (LGB) issues is their area. The B.yoU project run by Wigan Children and Young Peoples Services (CYPS) is the only youth group in Wigan county geared specifically for LGB youth and its projects include an adaptation of Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet, which they used to express what it means to be LGB.   Innovation winners ·

Emma, Jamie and Lewis, who are all 14 and from Edinburgh, are starting We Want to Work. It is a campaign to create work experience for young people under the age of 16 that provides practical training and skills as well as exposure to a variety of jobs they might want to pursue in the future. ·

Alex, 13, Henry, 13, Luke, 13 and Vignesh, 14, from Newcastle run Get Ca$h, Keep Ca$h. It is a campaign to inform young people about responsible finances via a website. ·       Tara, 14, from London, is starting Smile with Style, a campaign which aims to encourage young people to help each other. Tara is working to have young people from schools and youth clubs in South-East London design T-shirts to sell for the charity Smile Train and for funds to go back into local youth clubs.

Common Purpose Chief Executive, Julia Middleton, : "Young people have a valuable leadership role to play in society. They haven't yet settled into a comfort zone and this makes them brave, with less to lose by starting new campaigns. It is a powerful freedom to be brave and not be too focused, and they can use this to challenge the status quo and create positive change."

Una Farrell, Communications Officer, Common Purpose, at una.farrell@commonpurpose.org.uk
· The winners are available for interview. · Pictures of the winners receiving their awards are available on request. · For more information about the CHANGEit awards and the winners, go to: <http://www.changeit.org.uk/> ·

Common Purpose is an independent, leadership development organisation which aims to improve the way society works. Common Purpose operates throughout the UK and world-wide in Ireland, Germany, France, Turkey, Ghana, The Netherlands, India, Hungary and South Africa. For information log onto www.commonpurpose.org.uk <http://www.commonpurpose.org.uk/>. ·

Deutsche Bank is a leading global investment bank with a strong and profitable private clients franchise. A leader in Germany and Europe, the bank is continuously growing in North America, Asia and key emerging markets. With 78,275 employees in 76 countries, Deutsche Bank offers unparalleled financial services throughout the world. The bank competes to be the leading global provider of financial solutions for demanding clients creating exceptional value for its shareholders and people. www.db.com <http://www.db.com> · Deutsche Bank Corporate Social Responsibility UK manages the Bank's employee volunteering programmes, charitable giving and community partnerships, with a particular focus on supporting education, community development and art. In 2007 alone Deutsche Bank made donations of over £3.5m and approximately 1,200 employees volunteered with our community projects in London. www.communityuk.db.com <http://www.communityuk.db.com/>