Queen's Young Leaders Award Goes to Ashleigh Smith

Her Majesty The Queen will present a Queen’s Young Leaders Award to an exceptional young person from New Zealand at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London on Thursday 29th June. The Award celebrates inspiring young people from all over the Commonwealth who are dedicated to driving change in their communities and beyond.

This year’s Award winner, Ashleigh Smith, aged 19, has been recognised by The Queen for her dedication to raising awareness of mental health issues and online bullying.

Ashleigh will be representing New Zealand as she joins winners from across the Commonwealth in the UK for a programme of inspiring meetings, networking opportunities and bespoke training and mentoring, all designed to help them to develop as leaders and work with ever greater impact to transform people’s lives.

Selected from a competitive process where thousands of young people from all over the Commonwealth applied to be a Queen’s Young Leader, Ashleigh Smith said: “The support from the Queen's Young Leaders programme will be invaluable to my future projects. I believe the Award will enhance my skills further and will help me raise greater awareness of mental illness.”

The 2017 Queen’s Young Leaders Award winners are working to support others, raise awareness and inspire change on a variety of issues from tackling bullying in schools, to preserving the environment, to promoting gender equality.

Before receiving their Queen’s Young Leaders Award at Buckingham Palace, the winners will visit 10 Downing Street, as well as take part in masterclasses at the BBC World Service and the UK headquarters of global social media company Facebook. They will also meet the Commonwealth Secretary-General, take part in workshops at the University of Cambridge, meet senior executives from some of the UK’s leading organisations and visit projects that are changing the lives of vulnerable people in the UK.

The programme will finish with the launch of the final ever search for the Queen’s Young Leaders. The application process to become a Queen’s Young Leader of 2018 opens at 09:00 p.m. BST on Thursday 29th June 2017, and this year is the last chance for young people to apply to become a Queen’s Young Leader. The programme is looking for people aged between 18 and 29 who are dedicated to creating positive changes to the lives of people in New Zealand to join this important community of change-makers from across the Commonwealth.

Dr Astrid Bonfield CBE, Chief Executive of The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust said: “The Queen’s Young Leaders of 2017 are doing truly remarkable work within their communities. Their actions are having a positive impact not only on those around them but also by setting in motion positive change that will last for generations to come. The residential programme is an opportunity for the 2017 Queen’s Young Leaders to come together for the first time, to foster partnerships and share ideas about how they can work together as a group to improve people’s lives all over the Commonwealth. We are delighted that these young people are being recognised for their life-changing work by Her Majesty The Queen and we hope that their time in the UK will inspire and enable them to pursue their work for others on an ever greater scale.”

Details about how to apply to become a Queen’s Young Leader, together with information about the 2017 Award winners and Highly Commended runners up, is available at www.queensyoungleaders.com.

The Queen’s Young Leaders Programme

The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, in partnership with Comic Relief and The Royal Commonwealth Society, has established The Queen’s Young Leaders Programme in honour of Her Majesty The Queen’s 60 years of service to the Commonwealth at the time of her Diamond Jubilee. Guided by the values of the Commonwealth Charter, the goal of the Programme is to enable young people to step up as leaders and improve the lives of people across the Commonwealth.

Award details

Each year from 2014 to 2018, 60 exceptional young people will be selected to receive a Queen’s Young Leaders Award and become ‘Queen’s Young Leaders’ – one for every year that The Queen had served as Head of the Commonwealth at the time of her Diamond Jubilee.

As part of the Award, winners will receive bespoke mentoring and online learning provided by the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Continuing Education. Award winners will attend a residential programme in the UK in June, when they will receive their Award at Buckingham Palace from Her Majesty The Queen.

Criteria to win an award:

** Nominees will have proven experience of working to improve their communities locally, regionally or at a national level and will show evidence of their achievements

** Nominees will be aged between 18 and 29 for the year of the Award and be citizens of a Commonwealth country

** Nominees will demonstrate evidence of their leadership qualities

** Priority will be given to individuals who have overcome challenges to achieve their goals

** All nominees will need to be supported by a suitable referee.

The residential programme

The Queen’s Young Leaders residential programme is a fast-paced and high-profile series of events, meetings and workshops to inspire, inform and equip Award winners to move forward the work they are undertaking in their communities. The Queen’s Young Leaders Award winners will visit a select number of organisations and meet inspiring people with the highest expertise in areas including leadership, entrepreneurism, media and communications and advocacy

The Partners

The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust

The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust is a charitable foundation, established in 2012, to mark and celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s 60-year contribution to the Commonwealth. The Trust has received donations from governments, corporate partners, trusts, foundations, community groups and individuals from across the Commonwealth, and its programmes work in alliance towards eliminating avoidable blindness and to empower a new generation of young leaders. With a five-year timeframe in which to deliver successful programmes, the Trust’s aim is to leave a lasting legacy, owned by the whole Commonwealth, to honour Her Majesty The Queen. For more information go to: www.jubileetribute.org

Comic Relief

Comic Relief is a UK charity which aims to create a just world, free from poverty - where everyone is safe, healthy, educated and empowered. Since 1985, Comic Relief has raised over £1 billion. That money has helped, and is helping, people living incredibly tough lives, both at home in the UK and across the world. For information about Comic Relief and the work it carries out, please visit www.comicrelief.com

Royal Commonwealth Society

The Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS), founded in 1868, is a network of individuals and organisations committed to improving the lives and prospects of Commonwealth citizens across the world. Working through a range of educational, civil society, business and governmental networks, the RCS addresses issues that matter to the Commonwealth citizens. For more information go to: www.thercs.org

The University of Cambridge’s Institute of Continuing Education

ICE was founded in 1873 and offers a wide range of part-time and short courses for adults, covering topics from the arts and humanities to the sciences and professional qualifications. Based at Madingley Hall in Cambridge, ICE welcomes thousands of students each year to its popular short courses, part-time undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, and growing number of online courses. For more information, go to www.ice.cam.ac.uk

ENDS

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