Young people with BIG ideas offered £9,000 to support community

Friday 18 January 2019

Do you know a young person with a BIG idea? They're being invited to apply for up to £9,000 of funding for projects that would benefit the local community.

It's all part of the annual Brown Bursary, which is run by the Lions Club, and proudly supported by Bailiwick Express.

Under the scheme, young people from years 9 to 13 keen to help their local community will be awarded funding in tranches of up to £1,000 for smaller projects and up to £9,000 for larger projects in memory of Robert E. Brown, who left a generous donation to the Lions Club.

Pictured: The project is open to secondary school students, and encourages them to work in teams to make a difference.

Although Mr Brown wasn't a member of the Lions Club himself, Lion Paul Pearce, Chairman of Lions Club's Brown Bursary judging panel, said the local businessman was an admirer of the work the organisation does. While he didn't ask for his name to be associated with the Bursary, the Lions Club felt it was the right thing to do.

"He left a generous bequest in his will to several charities and the Lions Club was one of them," Mr Pearce explained. "A number of projects were suggested to commemorate his donation and one of them was the creation of a bursary for young people that would encourage them to launch new schemes, for the benefit of the local community."

The Bursary was launched in 2018, with Le Squez Youth Centre receiving £500 to fund a supper for Senior Citizens at their premises.

Pictured: Le Squez Youth Centre were the first to benefit from the Brown Bursary.

The event saw senior residents enjoy a three-course meal prepared by members at the youth club. The Club said they wanted "to bring two generations together to enjoy an evening of fun, food, entertainment whilst learning valuable life skills such as planning, organisation, managing a budget and time keeping."

Carl Howarth, Jersey College for Girls' Principal, commented on the Bursary, saying it encourages young people "to serve their community and make a difference".

"It aims to help create the next generation of community leaders," he added. "Jersey is so fortunate to have this resource for our young people to draw upon for the benefit of others.”

Pictured: What would YOU do to help the island with up to £9,000?

The Lions Club is once again challenging young people to compete for grants by presenting them projects that would benefit the local community. Groups of up to six young people from school years 9 to year 13 can apply at any point between now and the end of June. Application forms can be found below.

Each group should belong to a school or other youth organisation, and give itself a name. They can apply for amounts up to £9,000.

Mr Pearce said that the Judging Panel will make the awards based on the description of the projects and groups are invited to include as many details as possible. "We are looking for original ideas," he explained, adding: "We want the projects to be practical, sustainable and fully cost out."

Pictured: Paul Pearce will chair the judging panel for the Lions Club's Brown Bursary.

The winning projects will also be asked to produce their accounts to show how the funds have been spent. They will also receive support from members of the Lions Club at each stage of the implementation of their project. "It will be fully followed up, all the way through," Mr Pearce said. 

Express Editor James Filleul added: "We're delighted to be supporting the Lions Club in this brilliant local initiative. Our role is to make sure as many people know about the Bursary as possible, so that the Lions can get some really good applications.

"There's clearly a great benefit for the community in that, and also a boost for the young people who take the time to come up with the ideas, and submit the applications. We're looking forward to following the best ideas through, watching them come to fruition, and then reporting that back to our readers."

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