PhotoVoice wins Wavemakers Award for Moving Lives
PhotoVoice is celebrating after being named as one of the winners of a prestigious Wavemakers Award for the Moving Lives project, presented at an awards showcase held at Sound Nightclub in London on Thursday 6 July. Moving Lives was chosen from nearly a hundred inspirational entries sent in by children and young people across the UK.
(Left to Right) Azad Akbarpoor, Gholam Haydari, Murtaza Narari, Lord Taylor,
Arnas Vaskelis, Afreen Ashraf, Michael Bortey
Hosted by TV presenter Tania Bryer, the showcase was also attended by The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major (Patron), and Wavemakers’ celebrity ambassadors James and Oliver Phelps (the Weasley Brothers in the Harry Potter films). Moving Lives was a winner in the charity and organisations category and is one of 24 initiatives, originated by children and young people, which were recognised at the Showcase.
National charity Wavemakers exists to highlight the real achievements of children and young people who have taken action to improve their lives, and the lives of others, within the areas of social care, education and health.
Arnos and Michael meet John Major!
Over 100 nominations came in to the 2006 awards scheme and judging took place around the country by children and young people at 14 judging workshops. The Final judging panel included adult experts and young people deliberating in London where the final Wavemakers winners were eventually selected.
Moving Lives is a photography and digital-storytelling project giving a voice to young refugees living in East London and helping them to integrate into the UK. In 2004 alone, around 2900 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children arrived in the UK. The majority settled in London, where they live alone or with people they do not know. Moving Lives gives them an opportunity to represent themselves to the local community and to tell their personal stories, increasing public understanding of the experiences of young refugees. The stories are developed through workshops, held in partnership with Project DOST, where the young people grow in skills, confidence and make lasting friendships.
Afreen from Moving Lives said, “We were really excited and surprised to be acknowledged by Wavemakers. We feel it is important to tell our story as it reflects who we are and helps people to understand our background.”
The young people on stage receiving their award from Tania Bryer
Deborah Skillicorn, Chief Executive of Wavemakers said after the awards: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the extraordinary achievements of this year’s winners’. There has been a wide range of issues spotlighted through the Wavemakers awards including self harming, bullying, disabled rights, drug and alcohol abuse, demonstrating how many of these issues are being tackled by young people today and how passionate they feel about making changes in their society.”