The Kids Are Alright crowned Campaign of the Year!
OUR YOUTH stereotype-busting Kids Are Alright campaign has been crowned Community Campaign of the Year, beating heavy-weight dailies from across the region.
Judges at the EDF Energy East of England Media Awards on 21 January 2010 praised the Cambs Times and Wisbech Standard’s campaign for its originality and broad community engagement.
The Cambs Times/Wisbech Standard team receiving their prize from EDF's Bob Lane
and Olympic hockey player Ben Marsden
The Kids Are Alright also involves the Cambridgeshire Criminal Justice Board, Fenland District Council, Fenland Youth District Council, Connexions, the Fire Service and Cambridgeshire County Council.
The campaign last year scooped the Youth Justice Board’s Best Communication in Youth Justice Award and received several Cambridgeshire Justice Awards.
Cambs Times and Wisbech Standard editor John Elworthy said: “To say the team is delighted [about winning Community Campaign of the Year] is a bit of an understatement. We’re absolutely thrilled, especially as the competition for this category was intense. My personal thanks go to Adam Lazzari, the reporter who has done much of the groundwork co-ordinating the Kids Are Alright campaign but I must also thank our partners who have worked so tirelessly to try and make an impact on changing people’s perceptions of young people.
"It really has captured the imagination of many people, not only in Fenland but across Cambridgeshire.
“I do genuinely believe we have come across a formula for promoting the positive aspects of young people that might just make a difference. The fact, too, the campaign has been recognised nationally through the Youth Justice Board award success points us, too, to that belief.”
The Kids team with the Best Communication in Youth Justice Award
Picture: Cambs Times
Launched last February, The Kids Are Alright challenges youth stereotypes by highlighting positive contributions young people make to their communities. It uses weekly newspaper coverage, posters and events to get its message across.
All of the artwork has been designed by Wisbech graphic design student Beth Moore, 20, and features local youth.
Plymouth City Council and partners are launching their own Kids Are Alright campaign in March and other areas have expressed interest in running similar schemes.