Her Majesty The Queen will present a Queen’s Young Leaders Award to four exceptional young people from Nigeria at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London on Thursday 23rd June.
As the Commonwealth celebrates The Queen’s 90th birthday, this year’s Award winners, including Olanrewaju Adeloye, Aladipupo Ajiroba and Olumide Femi Makanjuola, all aged between 18 and 29 have been recognised by The Queen for taking the lead in transforming the lives of others and making a lasting difference in their communities. As a Queen’s Young Leader, they will be representing Nigeria as they join winners from 45 different Commonwealth countries in London for five days of high-level engagements, all designed to help them further their life-changing work.
Olanrewaju Adeloye has been nominated to receive the Queen’s Young Leaders Award 2016
Before receiving their Queen’s Young Leaders Award at Buckingham Palace, the winners will visit 10 Downing Street and the UK headquarters of global social networking company Twitter, and meet with senior executives at the BBC World Service. They will also meet the Commonwealth Secretary General, take part in workshops at the University of Cambridge, have meetings with UK business leaders, and visit projects that are changing the lives of vulnerable people in the UK.
Selected from a competitive process where thousands of young people from all over the Commonwealth applied to be a Queen’s Young Leader, Olanrewaju Adeloye said: “I am so happy to be a recipient of The Queen’s Young Leaders Award. To be recognised for my work and be presented with an Award by Her Majesty The Queen at Buckingham Palace is such a huge honour. I can’t wait to meet all the other winners in London and get involved in all the exciting activities that are taking place throughout the week.”
Olumide Femi Makanjuola has been nominated to receive the Queen’s Young Leaders Award 2016
This year’s Award winners are working to support others, raise awareness and inspire change on a variety of issues including education, climate change, gender, mental health and improving the lives of people with disabilities.
The application process to become a 2017 Queen’s Young Leader opens at 8:00pm BST on Friday 24th June 2016. The programme is looking for people aged between 18 and 29 who are dedicated to creating positive changes to the lives of people in Nigeria.
Aladipupo Ajiroba has been nominated to receive the Queen’s Young Leaders Award 2016
Details about how to apply to become a Queen’s Young Leader, together with information about the 2016 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. Award winners will attend a week-long 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 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
Established in 1985, Comic Relief is a major UK fundraising and grant making charity which uses the power of entertainment to create long-lasting change. Its vision is a just world, free from poverty. It strives to make this vision a reality by supporting poor, disadvantaged and vulnerable people in the UK and across some of the world’s poorest communities to change their own lives for the better. Discover more at: 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
