The One World Centre is pleased to announce that, for the first year, all of the Island’s secondary schools plus the Isle of Man College will be taking part in the popular One World Charity Challenge event.

Although a well-established highlight of the education calendar since 2008, this will be the first time that teams from all of the Island’s Year 12 or equivalent classes will be competing head to head to win the Charity Challenge title and, more importantly, the top prize for their chosen charity.

The One World Charity Challenge tasks teams to research a charity working in international development and present their findings in an engaging multimedia presentation. Last year’s winners were a team from Castle Rushen High School who delivered a presentation on the street children’s charity Toybox in the form of a bid to make a hit chart single. They won ?3,800 for Toybox.

Overall a total of ?22,000 was distributed to the various charities chosen by the different student teams.

The Challenge is run by the One World Centre with generous support from the H&S Davidson Trust who provide the prize money.

For more than five years, this prize fund has been matched by an additional contribution from the Isle of Man Government’s International Development Committee in recognition of the role the competition plays in raising awareness of development issues among the Island’s young people.

An innovation this year is the chance for students to actively raise funds for their charities. Credit will be given for the amount raised by each team – but the fundraising element will also be assessed on the basis of its creativity and determination.

As well as being able to choose a Manx charity that works overseas, students will also have the opportunity to nominate a UK charity, provided it has an aspect of international development as its main aim, has been operational for at least three years and has an annual turnover of less than ?100,000.

Rosemary Clarke, Director of the One World Centre, said: “We are delighted to welcome all the Island’s secondary and further education institutions on board this year.

“As well as raising awareness of international development issues and understanding of life in less prosperous countries, the One World Charity Challenge is a great way for young people to showcase their multimedia skills, become more confident in presenting and develop a very useful and interesting talking point for their personal statements whether they go on to university or enter the world of work.

“Castle Rushen High School set a very high standard in the competition last year but we know there are plenty of good ideas out there and look forward to following the teams through the competition.”

More information about the One World Charity Challenge is available from the One World Centre on 800464 or at the dedicated website www.oneworldcharitychallenge.org. 

Photo -Last year’s One World Charity Challenge winning team from Castle Rushen delivering their presentation on the Toybox charity for street children.