The Natiional Youth Agency: Fundraising effort for Sri Lanka bringssuccess for MAD group

The national winners of the Actions Speak Louder competition were announced recently at a special ceremony in London. The 15 winning projects have all been initiated and led by young people, with up to 45,000 of government money available to each. In the latest of our series of winner profiles, we take a look at a Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council project that is helping young people to raise funds for those still affected by the tsunami disaster.

After the Asian tsunami disaster, 16-year-old Rachel Ferguson and her friends from the Walsall MAD Youth Steering group decided to raise money for Oxfam's work in Sri Lanka. They put on a series of events showcasing local talent, with DJ-ing, live bands, poetry reading and comedy. They prepared presentations, organised advertising in schools and local papers, and contacted local businesses for donations and sponsorship. They designed tickets and programmes and arranged for performances to be filmed and released on DVD. The Youth Opportunity Fund grant was used to generate publicity and to cover part of the event costs. The shows raised 3,000, of which two-thirds has gone to Oxfam to help fund a fully equipped classroom for young people in Sri Lanka. The remaining 1,000 is being donated directly to a Sri Lankan community that the young people hope to visit this summer to help rebuild a playground.