BT Seen and Heard Awards

It was my honour this week to be invited back to the Houses of Parliament for the second time in six months. I was there to pick up a BT Seen & Heard award and to participate in a day of leadership, politics and debating. Notable names that were in attendance were MP Ann Widdecombe and Olympian Leon Taylor to name but just a few.

It is so great to get recognized by big organizations for the work we do and to be recognized in such a prestigious building makes it such more memorable, it is a day I won’t forget. It is so humbling just to be invited in to a building like that, let alone pick up an award.

I also had the pleasure of meeting some other amazing young people who are making a difference in this country. Sometimes it is just so easy to get focused on your project and not realize how many other great projects there are out there so I love these events as I get to find out what is going on and network with other youth organizations.

It is events like these where one connection that can be made that can change everything for your organization and if it hadn’t been for the event you would have never have made that connection. If you email or write to an organization or person you want to network with they may not reply to it but if you can meet them in person and show your passion for your project you are more likely to get them on side.

So a big thanks goes out to the BT Seen and Heard team for an amazing day out.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

It’s All About Image

This week in the entertainment world in the UK there were two interesting stories. The first being that presenter of popular BBC 1 evening programme “The One Show” Adrian Chiles has been asked to shave off his beard by BBC executives. When Adrian started on the show he was clean-shaven but since the show’s return after its Christmas break he has been sporting a well-developed beard. Now this could just be one big publicity stunt for the show but if it isn’t it raise an interesting point.

As a nation or a culture do we need or expect our TV hosts to be clean-shaven? Is it right that people should be asked to remove their beards in order to present on a TV show? As a viewer do we react differently to people with beards or without beards? What this has underlined is how image conscious the media world is, that is just incase you weren’t already aware.

The second story was about Susan Boyle being snubbed by the Brit Awards when they announced the nominees for this years awards this week. In my opinion any awarding body has the right to put forward any nominee they like as at the end of the day the awards are their awards. There is all this news about Susan Boyle but there have been other big acts this year that have done well this year like Chipmunk, Kelly Clarkson, Cascada etc. and nobody is asking why didn’t they get nominated for awards? The press are putting the story out that it is because of her image that she hasn’t got nominated and she is getting the headlines but if it wasn’t Susan Boyle no other artist would get as much press attention for not being nominated.

Susan Boyle not getting nominated could totally be an image thing and the press may very well have hit the nail on the head but it could also be a case of the media just again using image as a news story as like I say before it is what the media world revolves around.

I think image will continue to play a part in media and entertainment for many years to come and although this is very hard to change I think it is important that it is documented as much as possible and discussed as it is the only way we will ever change the situation. If we can’t change it in the short term we need to make sure there is a constant high awareness of it.


Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Humanitarian

I was privileged this week to be invited to the British Red Cross Humanitarian Citizen Awards at the House of Commons. I was nominated and then short listed for the prize which was really humbling. I had never been to the House of Commons so to just get the chance to go inside was enough of an exciting prospect for me but then to be awarded as runner up was completely overwhelming.

This got me thinking about the word ‘humanitarian’ - the dictionary definition of the word is:

“someone devoted to the promotion of human welfare and to social reforms”

To me when I always thought about the word humanitarian I always associated it with people who went out to clear landmines in war torn countries, people who went and helped in orphanages in poverty stricken countries or people who helped people suffering from major medical problems. Not once did I ever think that humanitarian could be a word to describe somebody like myself from a rural county who helped young people in the community and helped people across the country pursue their talents.

I really enjoyed the British Red Cross Humanitarian Citizen Awards because of the positivity of the event. So many times in the press young people are used for negative news so the more events like this that highlight young people doing amazing things the better. At the event there were so many humbling stories of the difference young people are making in this country and the power that an individual has to make change.

I just hope this event has got people thinking that they can be a humanitarian in their own communities as well as in the wider world. So I would just like to use this time to encourage you to do something to help others and be a humanitarian. As a population of young people we need to put more importance of lives we can change and difference we can make over the money we can make.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

The Film Industry

Last week was the biggest week in the Film Industry calendar as the winners of the Academy Awards otherwise known as The Oscars were revealed. Outside of school holidays the run up to the Oscars are a busy time for the cinemas the publicity of the awards encourages more people to go to the cinema.

The British film industry had huge news to celebrate as the film Slumdog Millionaire won eight awards at the Oscars a film which had British cast members, a British Director and was funded by British Film companies like Film4. Not only this but Kate Winslett also won the best actress award so Britain had more than one reason to celebrate this weekend.

Even with the huge success of Slumdog Millionaire which had a comparatively small budget compared to Hollywood Blockbuster films British film company Film4 that funded it are still be forced to be very careful with which films they support due to the financial times we live in. So just because of the success of Slumdog Millionaire it doesn’t necessarily mean there will be more British films made and more funding available for them.

I went and saw Slumdog Millionaire a couple of weekends ago and I really enjoyed the film but my local cinema charged me £7.50 for my ticket. When you can buy a DVD to own for less than that with the sales that go on in the high street and online I think £7.50 is a bit steep for a ticket. If the film industry wants to survive the economic downturn it needs to encourage more people to go to the cinema and not squeezing money out of loyal cinema goers and putting people off from going.

If you want some free entertainment and are aged under 26 I found this online the other day which I thought was a great idea:

http://www.anightlessordinary.org.uk/


Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Appreciation

Actress Kate Winslet has been grabbing the headlines this week for her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes after winning two awards. Her gushing acceptance speech in which she forgot the name of fellow nominee Angelina Jolie has been seen the world over and it got me thinking about my topic for the blog this week – Appreciation.

To achieve great things in life we need a strong support group around us whether that be family, friends or colleagues. These people can help you in many ways from doing small jobs for you to save you time to focus n your goal to helping you improve in certain areas of your life or your talent.

The most important thing family, friends and colleagues give is their emotional support. When you are feeling down they pick you up and when you are doing well it is their encouragement which spurs you on and makes it all worthwhile. These people are there to offer support and advice when you need it the most and to offer it from a point of view which is one of wanting you to succeed. It is their love and belief in you and knowing that you have their love and belief which helps you handle going in to interviews, auditions or trials when they can’t physically be in the room with you, when you are alone or when it all rests on your shoulders.

When you are trying to achieve your dream some of your support network may put their life on hold for you or at least rearrange all their plans so they can help you. This is why it is so important that you show them everyday that you appreciate them. You may not be able to thank them on TV with millions of people watching but you need to find ways in which to know they are appreciated. Some people may not help you if they don’t feel appreciated but most will help you without the need of being appreciated however this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t show them that you appreciate them. Showing you appreciate someone can really make their day and help inspire them in their own life.

So go out and make someone’s day go and show them that you appreciate them.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Accomplishments and recognition

We all like winning awards, trophies and recognition. Whether it’s winning the cup with your football team or being top of the class we all like to see a reward for our hard work. In a world which if you believe the press has an increasing amount of youth related crime happening it seems that more organisations are creating awards to reward young people doing great things in society whilst trying to get some good publicity for young people.

My question this week is this: Should we be rewarding young people for everything that they do? And if we do this are we just creating a culture of young people who will just expect to get an award for everything they do and then only do things if they get an award for it.

For me young people need to be empowered to achieve great things for their own personal satisfaction and not for an award. Young people should want to achieve in what they are doing first then if an award comes up it is a bonus. Someone shouldn’t be judged by how many awards they have won they should be judged by how good they are at something.

For me I want to win awards so I can show others what can be achieved through hard work as if you keep working hard at something and always want to get better at it somewhere down the line you will get the recognition for it.

So to sum up I am all for awards and recognising the efforts of young people as long as it doesn’t breed a culture of award hungry young people who lose focus on the long term goals they are trying to achieve in life.

What do you think? Do you like getting awards? Is that what motivates you? We want to know and you can share your views by joining in our topic of the week:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=605


Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Award Ceremonies

February seems to be awards month with many awards evenings, events and presentations taking place. If you live in the UK you will have been aware of the Brit Awards which recognises musical talent in the UK and if you live in the US you would have been aware of the Oscars event which recognises talent in the film industry.

Now award shows are great especially when it is you that is getting an award. Watching awards is also fun if you follow the industry in which the awards are taking place as you always have your own personal favourites that you think should or should have won.

The one problem I have with awards is that in many award shows you never know what actually happened for that person act or piece of media to get the award. They say things like judges or the board voted but you are always left wondering if an act deserved to win or if politics, personal agendas or power struggles behind the scene had anything to do with it. That is why I prefer awards that are decided by the fans. It is the fans that put the money in to an industry and keep it going and they are the ones that are important. Films and music are made to attract an audience so it is the general public who should be the judge.

The thing that got me thinking was that in an arts and entertainment world how do you decide who should win an award how do you work out who the best actor / singer is or what the best film is. In sporting competitions its easy to see who the best is as they can compete against each other and the result is dependant on their own performance not influenced by other people. In arts and entertainment you can work out who the most popular artists or films are by sales but how can you say who is the best? It is all subjective as different people like different things so to have awards which are best this or best that I think are wrong as really they are just the people who the judges liked the most.

Here is another thought if someone is more popular than another does it mean they are more talented than less popular artists? If this is true are the most talented people already established artists or are there a horde of people more talented than popular acts who nobody knows about?

To share your thoughts on awards or awards ceremonies join in our topic of the week by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=366

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

The BAFTA's

In what was tipped to be the biggest film awards night of the year before the Writers Guild of America called an end to their strike this week to safeguard the Oscars Ceremony the BAFTA’s took place last weekend.

Now for those of you who don’t know BAFTA stands for British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Now I am all for awarding and celebrating talent, brilliance and creativity but my problem with these awards is that there were only a few British nominations in the main categories and even fewer British winners.

In today’s world we need to continue to improve cohesion and links between countries but that doesn’t mean we should promote those other countries talent before promoting our own talent. The American awards evening the Oscars promote American film talent before any other country so why can’t we do the same with British film talent in Britain. Yes by all means have an international category but more needs to be done to promote home grown talent with more categories that are strictly for British talent.

The one problem at the moment is that many films are being branded or referred to as British like Bourne Ultimatum, Harry Potter and James Bond when they are funded, directed or produced by American companies or talent. Now I know American film houses have the money and the power in the international film market which isn’t going to change but I feel British film is at an important stage where it needs to keep a foothold in the film market.

To get public interest in an awards ceremony and to have a fair representation of the last year in the film industry you have to involve the American film scene but more needs to be done to make sure these awards are used to promote British film and it not just being remembered and talked about for the American winners. The one reason I am in favour of American films and actors being recognised at the awards is if it inspires a young British viewer of the awards ceremony to get involved in film which will end up helping the British film scene in the long run.

Like I mentioned earlier the Writers Guild of America this week have come to an agreement to end their strikes. This is great news for film professionals or young people trying to get in to film as people can now start going back to work. The strike was also good for talented young writers as there is now even greater financial stability and incentives to work in the industry. Now I know we are British but like I have commented on with America having so much control if you want to become a film writer there is a good chance you will end up working with an American company at some point.

One thing that is for sure is that with the strikes and awards ceremonies the film industry is the most talked about industry in entertainment which is hopefully getting young people interested and inspired to work in the industry.

What did you think of the BAFTA’s? We here at Talented Young People want to know and you can share your thoughts by visiting our topic of the week by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=351

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Success and Failure

What an incredible week it’s been. Last Friday I attended the NAGC (National Association for Gifted Children) Award on behalf of Talented Young People and was honoured to pick up the award for ‘Most Supportive Individual’ which was presented by the Duchess of Gloucester at the Ironmongers hall a venue in which they have filmed scenes for the popular Harry Potter film franchise. On the flipside it has been one of the worst weeks for our national game here in England that being football or soccer depending on where you come from.

We here at Talented Young People aren’t doing what we are doing to win awards and it isn’t what drives our organisation but it is great to be recognised by such a brilliant well known organisation and to know that their staff, members, volunteers and children they help think we are doing a great job. As well as the awards the event provided a great chance to network with many professionals and volunteers within the NAGC and other organisations set up to help young people which we hope to work with in the near future.

The one thing that amazed me about the awards were the young people who were nominated for awards. The stories of the young people who were up for awards outshone any of the adults that were up for awards and that is the way it should be. Yes it’s great to recognise individuals and organisations that help young people but we are all here for the young people and it is them who we want to see rewarded and acknowledged.

In a week of great highs for Talented Young People it was low point for English Football and the FA as the England national football team failed to qualify for Euro 2008 our first time 1994 that we have failed to qualify for a major tournament.

With the premiership being one of the biggest if not the biggest football league in the world we need a national football team which reflects this. We need the world to know we are a great footballing country and that is only going to happen by getting the results. The better the national team does the more people that will be encouraged to give a football a try and the more money that will be pumped back in to our game.

The lack of a major tournament to attend will also not help the development of an exciting crop of players we have at Under 21 level as to develop in to full first team players they need to get experience at the top level. On top of this after all the money that has been spent on our home ground Wembley we now have no competitive football matches scheduled at home for some time. We now have a brilliant ground but a team which isn’t up to that standard. With the lack of competitive football at the venue it makes me wonder why we paid all that money for it in the first place as not even the re-opening of the venue spurred the country on to greater results.

England played such a big part in the world development of sport by being the founders and creators of many different sports and it is time we got the reputation back not of just being the home of the sport but actually being good at it as well. It’s time once again to be proud and be a great, Great Britain.

We here at Talented Young People want to know your thoughts about the English football setup and you can share your views by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=260

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

NAGC Awards

This Friday (23/11) I will be making my way to Ironmongers Hall in London to represent Talented Young People at the NAGC (National Association for Gifted Children) Awards as part of their 40th Birthday Celebrations. We are so proud to be nominated to receive an award at this brilliant event.

After just celebrating our first birthday it is very hard to fathom 40 years but it is a great achievement and milestone for the NAGC. I will be so glad when Talented Young People make it to that milestone. Just think about the difference you can make in 40 years and the difference the NAGC have made.

In a world which is changing by the day for charities and organisations for a charity to exist and thrive over 40 years is an amazing feet. Not only have they seen radical changes in the charity world but radical changes in the educational world which they as an organisation have had to change with. These days a lot of charities and organisations are set up to help with problems or issues in areas where charities and organisations already exist so it is great to be invited to an event for an organisation who have been a frontrunner which was probably set up where there was little or no help or recognition and gone and blazed a trail in that area for others to follow.

The awards are such a good way to mark their 40th Birthday as it really sums up what the NAGC are about recognising, championing and helping young people with gifts and talents. I think their need to be more award ceremonies and recognition for deserving young people and for organisations and individuals who work with young people.

With so many organisations focusing on the small minority of unruly out of control young people and with these young people getting all the news and media attention it’s great to see an organisation which focuses on the many gifted and talented young people of this country. As people need to recognise that some of the so called unruly young people causing trouble are very gifted and talented young people but because they weren’t looked after properly at school and not challenged they fell in to bad ways. Like I have said on many occasions youth work needs to be the prevention business and not the cure if we want to change this world for the better. The achievers need our attention and our help as much as the non achievers if we are going to live in a balanced, fair and just world.

So in closing congratulations to the NAGC and from everyone here at Talented Young People here’s to another 40.

For more information on the NAGC go to:

http://www.nagcbritain.org.uk/

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Funding and Grants for Charities and Not for Profit organisations

I have been wanting to talk about funding and grants in my blog for many weeks as it is an area that I feel very strongly about and feel that my thoughts need to made public on. This is a long rant so bear with me as I think many of you will agree with what I have to say.

Many Charities and Not for Profit organisations rely on funding and grants from trusts, the lottery, the government and many more funding awarding bodies to carry out their daily activities. Through my years of being involved in charities and Not for Profit organisations I have never experienced a worse or harder time for these organisations to exist in.

Now I come from a media background so every week I purchase a copy of the Guardian on Monday for their media section which is a very well respected section in media circles. In this section they have pages and pages of the latest media jobs. Well that use to be the case as now when I open it up there seems to be more job adverts for Fundraising Managers with salaries of £20,000 - £30,000 than actual jobs that actually require a media background.

Now these organisations are employing these people to be professional application form fillers and to help them win the big grants and awards for their projects. The thing is that every week there seem to be more and more positions but the money that is out there in grants doesn’t seem to be increasing. Granting bodies seem to have followed suit with the amount of professional people working applying for grants by making the application process a lot harder to qualify for many grants.

How is an organisation or a charity that is run solely through volunteers who all have other day jobs ever going to compete with organisations that can employ people on big salaries to apply for these grants and awards? Quite simply they can’t. They can’t phone the organisations awarding the grants as by the time they finish work the offices are closed and then the volunteers have a few hours when they are tired after working all day and whilst looking after a family to try and fill out the forms.

An organisation’s worthiness to receive an award shouldn’t be based on the amount of employees they have or the size of their offices but the actual difference they can make. With many big organisations you would be surprised by how much of the money they make through donations and winning grants goes to paying admin staff, costs, office space and PR campaigns. I would say a good 95% of charities and not for profits can not afford any of that as it would be not financially sensible for them to do so. If you are interested to find out where your money goes to go to the Charity Commission website or Companies House website where you can get annual reports for free or at a small cost for every registered organisation. One thing I would strongly advise is, if you are donating money to an organisation and you are worried where your money is going, to specifically say in writing that you want that money spent on a certain area.

Now I have always been brought up that the right way to set up a charity or not for profit is because there is an area you want to help or change whether that be young people, a disability or a country dealing with poverty and then look for funds to support your organisation. It seems now though that the only way to survive is to look at what grants are out there at the moment and then a tailor an organisation around that award which meets all their criteria.

The Internet has helped smaller organisations a great deal with it now being easier to find out about grants through search engines and to be able to download forms instead of having to do it via the post. However it seems many people are now cashing in on this by offering software packages, CDs and websites which you have to pay to use in order to get the latest information and details on grants. These companies guard this information very closely and try to make sure the only way you can find out about them is by buying their product. I think it is a sad world we live in where the charity and not for profit world have been taken over by companies and the race to make more money. Organisations shouldn’t be forced to pay for information for grants that they are able to apply for.

Now there are many conspiracy theorists out there that believe our hosting of the 2012 Olympics is robbing many organisations of money which I’m not going to comment on either way. All I can say is that we seem to be living in an era where the goalposts are getting changed on a regular basis and grants are getting harder and harder to apply for and to win. It’s like now to become a registered charity you have to have an annual income of £5000 coming in to your charity. To get £5000 many organisations need to apply for grants to get this sort of money but for most grants they expect you to be a registered charity so although they are doing all the things a charity should be they can’t become a registered charity because of their finances so can’t apply for the grant.

Now I am not denying that there are valid reasons why it is so hard to win grants and to become a registered charity as it helps stop a lot of cowboy organisations or dishonest people getting involved but they need to find ways of doing this without penalising the good people and good organisations.

The one thing to remember though if you are an organisation who is currently applying for grants is that they aren’t a long term financial solution to your financial needs and can’t provide you sustainability. Grants are good for one off projects but if you are using them to fund long term projects and the grants are only allowed to be used within a year period then the next year it leaves you with a big financial hole to fill as many granting bodies will only let you apply once or at least have a few years year break before you are allowed to apply again. It is ok to start off your first year with a grant but during that year you need to be thinking of ways you can generate that kind of funding through other means like fundraising events, sponsors etc. which is more sustainable and that you control so that in the second year your financial future is secure.

That brings an end to my rant I hope this has given all of you some food for thought this week.

To get involved in our weekly discussion on this matter go to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=247

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Young and Famous

Over the last few years we have watched as young people have been thrust in to the limelight only to fall off the rails. This is not a new phenomenon but with the intensity of media scrutiny increasing every day the fall from grace of these celebrities has garnered more column inches in newspapers and websites as well as airtime on TV and radio shows than ever before. The main three celebrity names people will be synonymous with are Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton.

With big international conglomerates trying to make the most amount of money possible from its assets which for companies involved in industries like the media, creative arts and sports are its talent it’s no wonder that some young celebrities have fallen off the rails. Young talented people are being forced in to a grown up’s world with none or little preparation for it and if they aren’t surrounded by the right people making the right decisions very few people are going to look after them.

Young actors, actresses, singers etc. need to be looked after better and there needs to be more done for them. Many young and talented people are plucked from small towns and from relative obscurity to be then suddenly be thrust in front of millions of people and in to millions of homes across the world. You can’t expect a young person no matter how mature they are to be able to deal with something like that.

This is why if you dream towards a career which will see you being shoved in to the limelight you need to prepare for or at least be aware of the pitfalls and dangers of the career. You need to make sure that before you embark on your path towards your dreams that you have a support network of family, friends and business partners that you know have your best interests at heart and are not around you just because you are famous. When you have that in place remember to always look after them and treat them the same regardless of if you have ten million fans or just ten.

I believe that we need as many positive young role models in the media, creative arts and sports industries and that although the likes of Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton grab the headlines we can’t forget there are many young people out there who have been thrust in to the limelight who have dealt with it brilliantly. It is these people we need to focus on and we need to make sure that there is help and support to catch those people who may come off the rails or systems in place to try and stop them coming off the rails in the first place.

So to sum up if you are pursuing dreams which could potentially see you being in the public eye or situations of wealth and notoriety to remember it is not only your talent that you need to work on you also need to work on your strength of character as it will be this that stops your dream ending prematurely or your dreams not working out as you had planned them. Remember nothing is more important than your physical and mental well-being and if you are ever put in a position where either of these are in danger then you need to re-address the situation. You will always have to deal with people that will try and pressure you in to things like agents, managers, pushy parents etc. but remember with every decision that is made you need to be happy with it, as your happiness is the most important thing.

Push towards your dreams because if you have the ability, the talent and the belief you can go far but just be aware of the sacrifices and pitfalls that wait in your path. We should encourage the youth of today to reach for their dreams as I know there are many young people across the globe who have the potential to do amazing things we just need to make sure there is a safe environment for them to accomplish their dreams and we can’t expect the big international conglomerates of this world to do that as they only primarily care about keeping their shareholders happy.

In a message to the media don’t judge young celebrities as harshly as you do. Yes there will always be some that have made mistakes or bad decisions but they are only young people and young people make mistakes its your help they need not your judgement. If you are going to question anyone question the people around them that let them get to that state in which they find themselves. Spend some time focusing on the young and talented people doing amazing things in this world.

Before I go this week I need to remind you to vote in the Talented Young People Awards for August. The Talented Young People Awards have been set up to recognise incredible young talent and the five names you have to choose between this month are:

Daniel Radcliffe - Actor who plays Harry Potter in the Harry Potter film series

Lewis Hamilton - British Formula 1 Driver

Emma Watson - Actress who plays Hermione Granger in Harry Potter film series

James Morrison - British singer/songwriter

Rupert Grint - Actor who plays Ron Weasley in Harry Potter film series

To cast your vote go to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com

And if you have a view point on young celebrities and young people who find fame then why not join in our topic of the week on this subject in our forum by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=158#158

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/

The Floods - Facing Adversity

Over the last few months the UK has been hit by some of the worse flooding it has seen in recent years which has been mirrored in many countries across the globe with many people suffering from the extreme weather conditions. I can’t speak for the rest of the world but no one in the UK could have even imagined the devastation which has happened, especially during a time in which we should be enjoying the highest temperatures of the year.

Many of those affected by the floods all had plans and events happening in their lives, which were rudely interrupted by the unexpected devastation. One day they went to work, school or were maybe even sleeping to come home or to wake to their homes surrounded by water. Then there were those who fled for shelter in centres setup around the country to house those escaping the floods who left their properties not knowing what they would be coming back to with only a few frantically collected possessions with them.

Now it’s incidents like this that can sometimes cruelly change the direction and path of many lives as the knock on affects of the damage refuse to go away. Still weeks on and many people can’t return to their homes, can’t get the money out of their insurance companies to make their homes liveable and those who still remain in their properties still don’t know if the water running through the pipes is drinkable or when it will be.

In these towns and cities that were affected there will have been many young and talented people all working hard pursuing their dreams, all with big plans that have now been taken away by the floods. No longer is there main concern pursuing their dream, they are now only concerned with getting their life back to normality which they don’t know how long it will be until this happens.

I have come to say that it is ok to concentrate your efforts on getting your life back on track, there is nothing wrong with it and this is the way it has to and should be. This is going to be one of the biggest tests of your strength that you have ever had but if you can take the strength from this and not forget about your dream then you can achieve anything. You have to remember that things may not be going your way at the moment but it will get better and that life will get back to normal. When life is restored to some sort of normality you can’t waste more of your life thinking about it and worrying about it. I know this is easier said than done but we need to remember what happened, learn from it and use it to help us achieve our dreams. We need to also make the improvements and changes that need to be made in order to safeguard the villages, towns and cities so that young talented people can be free to pursue their dreams without the danger of setbacks. You can’t get back the time, money and possessions that have been lost but you can reclaim or for some people claim your dream for the first time and hold on to it.

Don’t let your talents and skills go to waste just because there has been a setback. Yes I know some setbacks are harder to get over than others and this is a major setback but it just means the harder you fall the stronger you can come back.

We are now in a time where we need more leaders around the globe who are going to help others in their time of need and in their times of triumph. One organisation currently recognising the top leaders in the world are the Global Youth Awards. I have been lucky enough to be nominated for this award because of all the work I do with young people. If you feel that I deserve to win the award you can vote for me by going to:

http://www.globalyouth.net/leadership/adam-sibley.html

I just want to end today by sending out the thoughts and prayers of the Talented Young People organisation to all those affected by these floods, you will always be in our thoughts.

Have you ever had to overcome adversity like those people affected by the floods? How did you do it? How hard was it to overcome? Why no tell us all about it and join in our discussion:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=144#144

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/