Help Celebrate Wolverhampton’s Youth

Nominations are now open for the Wolverhampton Young Citizen of the Year awards 2024, which recognise the achievements of young people aged between 13 and 25 who live or go to school or work in Wolverhampton.

Photo of Max Kilman (Wolves captain) Luis Enache (2023 finalist), Imane Sbihi (2023 joint winner) Eva Abley (2023 joint winner) Mel Eves (awards vice Chairman) at the launch of Wolverhampton Young Citizen 2024
Max Kilman, Luis Enache (2023 finalist), Imane Sbihi (2023 joint winner) Eva Abley (2023 joint winner) and Mel Eves

This years awards were launched by Wolverhampton Wanderers captain Max Kilman and Wolves Legend (and Rotary member) Mel Eves. They are encouraging everyone in the City to recognise those young people who have gone the extra mile and whose personal courage, care for others, achievement or contribution to the community should be recognised and celebrated.

Anyone can nominate a young person for the award – just visit www.wolverhamptonyoungcitizen.org.uk and complete the online nomination form.

The awards were devised and are sponsored by the City’s four Rotary Clubs together with main sponsor Collins Aerospace. The awards are supported by the Wolves Foundation, Wolverhampton City Council, the James Beattie Charitable Trust and West Midlands Magazines.

Celebrating Wolverhampton’s Young Musicians

Young people from all over the City will be taking part in the Wolverhampton heat of Rotary’s Young Musician competition on Sunday 4th February with winning entrants getting the chance to compete for a place in April’s national final.

Supported by the City’s four Rotary Clubs the competition offers young people the opportunity to experience performing on a public stage as they showcase their musical talent and receive feedback from experienced adjudicators.

The Wolverhampton heat takes place at 2pm (doors open 1.30pm) on Sunday, February 4th at the Music Hub, Graisley Hill, Wolverhampton WV2 4NE.

The City’s Young Musicians never disappoint and you are all welcome to come along, hear some truly talented performers and to show your support. There’s no need to book – just come along on the day, admission is only £3 payable by programme on the door.

Celebrating Wolverhampton’s Young Citizens of the Year

It was a pleasure to welcome Imane Sbihi and Eva Abley – the joint winners of the 2023 Wolverhampton Young Citizens Award in the 13 – 18 age group – to our meeting on Monday.

Imane is an asylum seeker who escaped from Morocco and since settling in Wolverhampton has immersed herself in voluntary work. Eva, who has cerebral palsy uses comedy to inspire others to cope with disability and came fifth in Britain’s Got Talent.

In all ten young Wulfrunians were recognised for their outstanding community service at this year’s Wolverhampton Young Citizens of the Year Rotary Awards Ceremony – Eva Abley, Luis Enache, Harmon Kambo, Gabriella McKenzie, Dirran Mehta, Imane Sbihi, Shawna Gibbs, Karolina Jaks, Chloe Lambert and Alethea Parsons.

The Young Citizen Awards – which were devised by the City’s Rotary Clubs – are now in their tenth year and celebrate young people aged between 13 and 18 and between 19 and 25 who live, study or work within the Wolverhampton boundary and whose personal courage, care for others, achievement or contribution to the community deserves to be recognised.

Supporting the Wildside Activity Centre

Hidden away in Whitmore Reans the Wildside Activity Centre is a green oasis helping people of all ages and abilities to reconnect with nature by offering a range of adventurous and environmental activities which help to promote wellbeing and an appreciation of the natural world.

The Centre is especially proud of their work with people who have disabilities or special needs and they are always looking for further opportunities for enjoyment of the outdoors and adventurous activities, particularly seeking to reach groups suffering deprivation and social exclusion in the local neighbourhood and the wider community of Wolverhampton.

The Club and its members have been supporters of the Centre’s work for many years and we’re glad to have been able to continue that support by making a further donation to help the Centre with its work.

The donation will help support Wildside’s work with young people giving them opportunities to learn new skills, to build confidence and to develop a love of nature.

Supporting the Way Youth Zone

School holidays can be a tricky time to keep young people happy and entertained but we’ve been pleased to be able to provide funding to help The Way Youth Zone run its Holiday Club is for 8-12 year olds in Wolverhampton over the Summer.

The Holiday Club provided a great range of activities including team games, climbing, arts and crafts as well as the chance to chill with friends in the recreational area and play some pool or watch a film.

Take a look at the video for a glimpse of the amazing summer the Holiday Clubbers had.

Tettenhall Rotary Club Donates £1,000 to Birch Thompson Memorial Fund

The Rotary Club of Tettenhall has donated £1,000 to the Birch Thompson Memorial Fund to help support the fund’s work in maintaining and developing Gelliwig, a residential centre in Porthmadog, North Wales which offers low cost residential accommodation for young people from Wolverhampton and the wider West Midlands.

Gelliwig has long been a popular destination for school groups, youth groups, and other organisations from Wolverhampton and its a great base for activities such as hiking, canoeing and rock climbing.

The Birch Thompson Memorial Fund was formed in 1981 in tribute to Colton Hill School teachers Graham Birch and John Thompson, who both died in 1980, and has helped thousands of young people to develop their skills and talents and to experience the outdoors. The importance of the Funds work was recognised with the award of the prestigious Queens Award for Voluntary Service in 2020.

The £1,000 donation from the Rotary Club of Tettenhall will help the Birch Thompson Memorial Fund to continue its work in supporting Gelliwig. The money will be used to refurbish an external paly area for the use of the young people who visit Gelliwig each year.

If you would like to find out more about the Birch Thompson Memorial Fund and its work at Gelliwig visit their website at www.gelliwig.org.uk

The Royal School Interact Club Raises over £1,800 for Turkey/Syria Earthquake Relief

We’re looking forward to welcoming members of The Royal School Interact Club to our meeting on Monday. Their Club recently raised £1801.25 for the Turkey/Syria Earthquake relief through a “Wear your own clothes” day and by making and selling Valentines cards at the school. The fundraising events were a great success, with students from all year groups coming together to show their support for the victims of the earthquake.

The Royal School Interact Club is a group of students who are passionate about making a difference in the world. They are always looking for ways to help others, and were eager to do something to help the victims of the Turkey/Syria Earthquake – with the money that they raised helping the British Red Cross to provide relief to those who have been affected by the earthquake.

Interact is a youth organization affiliated with Rotary which aims to encourage young people to develop leadership skills and to participate in service projects for the benefit of their communities. The Royal School Interact Club is one of over 14,000 Interact Clubs worldwide with members meeting every week to discuss service projects and to plan events and its a great example of how young people can make a difference in the world – contact us to find out more about how your school can make a difference in the world with Interact 

Wolverhampton Young Citizen 2023

Nominations are now open for the Wolverhampton Young Citizen of the Year awards 2023, which recognise the achievements of young people aged between 13 and 25 who live or go to school or work in Wolverhampton.

Mel Eves with last year’s finalist Emma Falconer and Wolves defender Max Kilman
Photo credit – Express and Star

This years awards were launched by former Wolves player Mel Eves who is encouraging everyone in the city to recognise those young people who have gone the extra mile and whose personal courage, care for others, achievement or contribution to the community should be recognised and celebrated.

Anyone can nominate a young person for the award – just visit www.wolverhamptonyoungcitizen.org.uk and complete the online nomination form.

The awards were devised and are sponsored by the City’s four Rotary Clubs and are backed by the Wolves Foundation, the Express & Star, Wolverhampton City Council, Carvers Building Supplies, the James Beattie Charitable Trust, West Midlands Magazines and Wolverhampton West magazine.

The Great Easter Book Hunt

Promoting literacy is one of Rotary’s core aims – good reading skills help to give children a better start in life – so we’re really happy to able to sponsor the 2023 Tettenhall Easter Book Hunt.

Starting from Thursday of this week and running through the Easter holiday children will have the chance to join the hunt and follow the clues to find one of 200 great Usborne books that will be hidden in and around the Tettenhall area.

You’ll be able to find the clues on the Tettenhall Look for a book Easter 2023 facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090491666753 – so make sure to visit and follow it today

Happy Easter and Happy Reading

Happy World Interact Day

Interact Clubs are service clubs for young people aged 12 to 18 and are part of Rotary International.

Members of Interact clubs organize at least two projects every year, one that helps their school or local community and one that promotes international understanding.

These projects give club members the opportunity to make a difference in their school and community as well as internationally at the same time as developing leadership and team working skills and making new connections.

The Interact Club at the Royal School Wolverhampton celebrates its 10th Anniversary this year.

Since its formation in June of 2012 under the sponsorship of the Rotary Club of Tettenhall the Royal School Interact Club has, with the support of teacher Jane Kyle, prospered and become well established at the school.

Club members have experienced how to hold regular formal meetings and debate, keep accounts and how to work together to achieve the initiatives that they have set for themselves. The Club has provided entertainment for others whilst experiencing the satisfaction that comes from helping others and having fun along the way.

The enthusiasm and dynamics of the ever changing membership has seen the Club involved in a range of student led community, school, national and international initiatives and fund raising activities.

Internationally it has raised support for Shelterbox, with the school funding 5 boxes over the years, Polio Plus and Project Gambia 

More locally Club members have fundraised for Compton Care, Macmillan and the Haven and have carried out anti-litter and recycling campaigns.

The Interact Club members have also supported the City’s Rotary Clubs and have taken part in such local initiatives as Tettenhall Summer Fete, Best Foot Forward, the Christmas Santa Sleigh and Dragon Boat Racing at Himley Park.

With the ongoing support of the dedicated staff at the school and the work of the enthusiastic and talented Interact Club members we’re looking forward to seeing what the next 10 years will bring.