Yesterday afternoon, the Archbishop of York presented 278 badges and certificates to Year 9 students from Archbishop Sentamu Academy who have completed the Young Leaders Award run by the Archbishop of York Youth Trust.

Each student took part in a personal project, these ranged from helping with the washing up, to babysitting, cooking family meals and taking dogs for a walk. The school projects included litter picking, helping Year 7 students with their accelerated reading project, making mosaic tiles to decorate the Agora and contributing to the new Academy values that will be launched in this academic year. Dr John Sentamu said:

“All of my Young Leaders do a personal challenge as part of the award, and some of these make huge differences in the lives of other less fortunate than themselves.  Every time I come to the Sentamu Academy I am impressed by the commitment and enthusiasm shown by young people in serving others. These young people are the leaders of today”.

Community projects included raising money for the Stuart Gilson missing persons fund to help buy t-shirts to raise awareness of Stuart’s disappearance by doing a sponsored walk. Some students helped older members of the community by doing a neighbours shopping and checking in on elderly neighbours. Andrew Chubb, the Principal of Archbishop Sentamu Academy said:  

“The middle word in our motto is ‘Serve’. The Young Leaders Award gives our students the opportunity to put this into practice, and we are delighted with what our students have achieved through this.”

Rubee Adams, one of the Year 9 students said:

“I thought the course was fantastic. By doing the project I really improved my team working skills, got more confident communicating with people and made a difference in my community ”.

About the Young Leaders Award

The Young Leaders Award combines classroom learning, with practical projects focused on community action. It is an exciting course for secondary school students developed by the Archbishop of York Youth Trust. Available for schools and churches this resource will equip young people to be a force for good in their local community.