The incoming High Sheriff of Hertfordshire has chosen the Archbishop of York Youth Trust to be a charity partner for his year in office.

Lionel Wallace DL will take up office in succession to the present High Sheriff on Monday 5th April in a declaration ceremony. Passionate about offering young people opportunities to thrive, Lionel aims to use his year in office to further the development of opportunities for young people.

Lionel Wallace DL, who was recently appointed by The Queen to take on the role of High Sheriff of Hertfordshire, said:

“One of the greatest gifts my parents gave me was the freedom to explore opportunities and be involved in community and leadership activities from an early age. I did not appreciate its value fully at the time, but I do now. It is for this reason I am convinced that strong and consistent investment in developing the leadership and civic responsibility attributes of young people will transform both their lives and our entire society's cohesion.”

The Archbishop of York Youth Trust is passionate about developing opportunities for young people to grow in leadership, faith and character, in partnership with schools, churches and communities. Through the Young Leaders Award, the Youth Trust has empowered over 100,000 young people from over 850 schools to learn and practice key leadership skills and character virtues and to transform their communities through social action.

The Young Leaders Award is a fully resourced leadership and character education programme, designed by the Youth Trust, to be delivered by teaching staff within the classroom.

Lionel adds:

“This is why I am very pleased to work with the Archbishop of York Youth Trust to bring the fullness of the Young Leaders Award programme to Hertfordshire. This programme will not only enhance the offering of our many great schools, but provide a springboard for the youth in Hertfordshire to become excellent contributors to innovative employment opportunities, work within critical voluntary organisations, serving to Police our communities, Justices of the Peace in our Courts and more.”

To start the year of partnership, Lionel will be joined by Dan Finn, CEO of the Youth Trust, and young people from Hertfordshire on Tuesday 13thApril at 19:30 –21:00 on Zoom. The event is called ‘High Sheriff in Conversation: Empowering the Next Generation of Leaders‘ and is open to all who wish to attend in Hertfordshire and will involve exploring the High Sheriff’s vision for empowering young people, and how the Youth Trust’s Young Leaders Award provides meaningful opportunities for children and young people to engage in social action.

The Archbishop of York, The Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell said,

“Now ,more than ever, we must invest in young people, giving them opportunities to grow in confidence, faith and character. I am therefore delighted that the Archbishop of York Youth Trust are working in Hertfordshire with the incoming High Sheriff, Lionel Wallace, to help young people to be confident, committed and community minded.”  

Every pupil taking part in the YLA chooses what social action project they want to run. The Young Leaders from Shocklach Oviatt C of E Primary School in Cheshire made waves of impact through their community social action project, by inviting the Managing Director of the school’s catering company to visit school. They asked him to consider using an alternative to single-use plastic for their plastic juice containers. To their surprise, the Director agreed and committed to not only offer an alternative to their school, but also to all of the schools that he works with in Cheshire West and Chester.

Other social action projects include supporting those who are lonely, building inter-generational relationships with the elderly, supporting those who are homeless and raising awareness for suicide prevention. 

It is the future High Sheriff’s hope, that by partnering with the Youth Trust, young people in Hertfordshire will be encouraged and empowered to make a difference in their local communities, particularly in matters they are not normally engaged in. 

To sign up to attend the Zoom evening with the High Sheriff and Youth Trust team, visit - https://bit.ly/3erhjI7

To find out more about the Young Leaders Award, attend a free information webinar about our Primary and Secondary Awards. Sign up for a place here -abyyt.com/conferences.

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