The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, and his Youth Trust today welcomed 47 Headteachers to a conference at Bishopthorpe Palace with Young Leaders from Ripon Cathedral Primary School taking centre stage.

The Archbishop’s Young Leaders Awards, available from Key Stage 2 to Post 16, are seeing real growth across the North of England with more and more young people taking part.

Tom, a pupil at Ripon Cathedral Primary School said:

“It’s my 10th birthday today and I loved presenting at Bishopthorpe Palace.  Through the Young Leaders Award I enjoyed the challenges we got to do and the opportunity to make a difference. We helped out by raising awareness of litter in the local area and making it a cleaner place”.

Darren Dudman, Headteacher of Ripon Cathedral Primary school spoke about his findings from a school’s perspective.  A ‘Show and Tell’ session followed, led by KS2 Young Leaders.  Lay Canon Arthur Mauya, Diocesan Director of Education for Mara Tanzania and Miss Melina Galibona, Mara Education department joined the conference with partner Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales.

The Archbishop of York said

“I am always astounded to hear of how my Young Leaders Award is nurturing and helping young people to flourish and their communities gladdened. You need only look to the Young Leaders of Ripon Cathedral Primary School who spoke at the conference this morning. They learnt leadership skills and put them into action making a huge difference to their community and the wider world. These children are the leaders of today and I encourage them to go for it and to keep changing our world for the better.”

Richard Noakes, Director of Education at the West Yorkshire and the Dales Diocese, said:

“After hearing about the impact of the Award on Young People, the leadership skills and confidence they gain and the community-changing projects they achieve, we wanted to make sure schools in our Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales have the opportunity to find out more about the Award and get involved in both local and international projects.”

To date the Youth Trust have enrolled over 280 Primary and Secondary schools to the Young Leaders Awards, empowering some 31,000 young people to put leadership into action and make a difference in other people’s lives through acts of service and community volunteering.