Ormiston Trust celebrates 10 years of movement to empower young people

Ormiston Trust is marking the 10-year anniversary of the #iWill movement, which has encouraged and empowered thousands of young people across the country to take part in social action projects.

#iWill was created by the Department for Culture Media and Sport and The National Lottery to provide funding to support young people to take part in programmes which will benefit their communities, as well as broader society. Ormiston Trust is one of a number of organisations that have partnered with the #iWill movement to facilitate youth social action programmes in schools across England. 

Ormiston Trust has lined up a range of exciting events to help raise awareness of the power of youth social action work, and to highlight the importance of bolstering young voices in celebration of the tenth anniversary. This includes hearing from Ormiston Trust’s Youth Advisory Council (YAC), which is made up of 12 young advisors aged 14-20 who support the trust in making strategic decisions.

The YAC will be taking over Ormiston Trust’s social media channels to provide an opportunity to hear from young people directly about the importance of social action and the impact it has had on their own lives and the world around them.

Other activities include a ‘write a letter your future self’ campaign aimed at inspiring young people to envision a better future and to think about how they can take action to make this happen. Students across Ormiston’s network will be asked to set goals to help foster a positive image of the changes they can make.

Through the #iWill movement, Ormiston Trust has facilitated a range of exciting programmes which have had a tangible impact on young people and their communities. This includes school campaigns to end single use plastic, and students volunteering to perform festive songs for local retirement homes.

Ormiston Trust are looking forward to continuing to build on the legacy of the #iWill movement as they partner with more schools to deliver their #WeWill programmes which help schools embed youth social action into their curriculum. This includes the launch of the #WeWill social grant which is a fund of up to £5000 for primary and secondary schools to deliver a youth social action project.

Alex Hogg, Chair of the Youth Advisory Council at Ormiston Trust, said:

“One of my favourite things about Youth Social Action and my role of Chair of Ormiston’s Youth Advisory Council has been getting my voice heard and, crucially, allowing others of a similar age to myself to have their say.”

James Murray, Chief Executive of Ormiston Trust, said:

“We are beyond proud to have worked with the #iWill movement to provide students across our network with the opportunity to tackle issues that matter the most to them.

“Ormiston Trust is committed to continuing to promote and celebrate the benefits youth social action has for young people, including inspiring them to care deeply about the world around them while equipping them with key life skills.

“The programme has had immeasurable impact on raising aspirations of young people and their communities, and we very much look forward to seeing this continue.”