We are seeking to challenge negative stereotypes of young people. So we are encouraging 11-20 year olds who are involved in community projects to enter the Philip Lawrence Awards and get recognised for the positive difference they make.

We are launching the Who am I? campaign with a video asking young people to describe who they are, in a bid to challenge commonly held stereotypes. The idea for the campaign and video, and all the work that has gone into planning and filming is down to the hard work and creativity of our fellowship of former winners, who’ve worked together at a number of residentials and workshops and are featured in the video.

One of the stars of the film, Jenine, from 2009 winners Fawcett Youth Group, said, “Through our film, Who am I?, we wanted to show adults that young people are not disrespectful troublemakers. I am a young person making a difference and I hope what we’ve done helps to change how adults view young people. I really hope more young people apply this year.”

View the video, and our others, on our YouTube channel, and add your answer the question ‘who are you?’ to our online gallery (coming soon).

As part of the campaign, the fellowship are also conducting a survey looking at young people’s opinions on improving their communities. Please help by answering their questions – it’s very quick!

Don’t forget the awards closing date of 15 September is getting close, so get your nominations in soon.