Youth Ambassadors

WHAT IS A YOUTH AMBASSADOR?

A Youth Ambassador is a young representative, agent and steward of the charity for which they work.

Youth ambassadors can help with the engagement and participation of young people. Youth ambassadors are now used in multiple charities to help create more targeted campaigns, messages and interactions.

Young people know what young people want, they have the advantage of experience, of easier access to their age group and of an understanding of modern trends and design. How we see it…

Young people have natural means of access to… Schools & Colleges Clubs: sports teams, drama clubs, dance troops etc. Other young people

Anaphylaxis Campaign Young Ambassador Project: A focused digital project to recruit and support a small group of young people in developing social media and website communications for the Campaign over the course of 12 months.

What age group are we looking for? 16 – 18 years old: Schools require their 6 th form students in particular to participate in charitable/extra circular activities. Often, time is put aside for them to be able to do this during the week as ‘Personal Development’. Many students in college and sixth form will also be looking for work/activities that they can put on their UCAS applications (or CVs) and again are heavily encouraged by educational institutes to do so.

How will we organise it? Aim to recruit 4 – 6 young people (from any area of the UK) Hold a training session (at accessible venue, probably in London) with PR & Comms Manager One to one support from Communications Assistant: phone, , virtual meetings New microsite for YA materials – linked but distinctly different from main website Facebook group for YAs

Project activities: Working on social media, supporting our fundraising & awareness raising, creating advertising campaigns, writing/drawing for us, pics, cartoons, stories, etc Translation / creation of key messages for peer group Creating short “selfie” films for our YouTube channel Adding blog info, updates, new ideas

What are the objectives? The main objectives will be; Boosting the blog/content creation Raising peer-group awareness Adding their specific insight to our campaign work Developing younger supporters

Application Process Application pack: Job description Application form Important dates: Closing date for return of application forms: 29 th July 2016 Interview via skype week beginning 8 th August 2016 Training day for successful candidates: in London or Farnborough, 3 rd or 4 th Saturday September 2016

What’s in it for you?

Making a difference by helping to inform younger allergic people and their peers Work experience in key areas (PR, digital media, design, journalism, politics) Skills development (creativity, website management, editing, design, etc.) Building a personal portfolio of work, some of which may be published Personal development, leadership, organisational skills & team work School / College educational benefits (e.g.SMCS development) UCAS brownie points Duke of Edinburgh Award (Community Action voluntary section) Certificate of achievement / UCAS or work reference

Work experience : Many industries are difficult to get into e.g: media, communication, political, advertising. We can offer experience in these areas. With competition for jobs increasing, you need to be able to stand out from the crowd. By having contributed to published media materials, you’ll be able to show a practical portfolio of effective PR & media work.

Skills development: In media, PR, digital media, design, website design, journalism, campaigning Personal development: Team work and responsibility – taking ownership for work that potentially goes public

“ It helps to ensure that the recognition is genuinely meaningful to the ambassadors themselves and not just something that adults think the students would appreciate. ” Phillips, R., Linney, J., and Pack, C., Safe School Ambassadors: Harnessing Student Power to Stop Bullying and Violence. From Bystanders to Peacemakers USA: Jossey-Bass.