Bancroftian in Amnesty Top 3
For the second year running Charlie Blake (U6W) has achieved great things with his entry for the Amnesty International Young Human Rights Reporter of the Year Competition. Last year, Charlie’s entry made the top 10 for his year group (Sixth Form Journalism). This year he has gone one better and his report has been short listed as one of the top three.
Charlie decided to write his piece about the dumping of toxic waste in the sea off the Ivory Coast after reading about it on the Amnesty website, "Amnesty and Greenpeace released a report back in September after a three year investigation into the incident which I read through a couple of months ago. Given the scale of what happened I was surprised that I'd never heard about the incident before so I decided that I should write about it. The competition has really developed my perspective on global human rights issues and I feel privileged that Amnesty has given me a chance to voice my opinions"
Each year this prestigious competition, run by Amnesty International UK, the Guardian Teacher Network and the secondary school magazine SecEd, attracts over 2500 entries from more than 200 schools across the UK. The annual competition aims to inspire young people to become human rights reporters, to investigate what's going on in the world and bring human rights abuses to light.
English teacher Kevin Gallagher, who encouraged Charlie to enter the competition, commented, “I was delighted when Charlie's fine piece on the forcible eviction of islanders from a tiny British colony in the Indian Ocean in the 1970s – and its legacy – made the final ten last year. It is great to see his latest article, his call for action on the reckless disposal of toxic waste, has now made the new shortlist of three, especially given the intense competition: the school is very proud of him."
The top three in each age group have been invited to attend a prestigious ceremony at Amnesty International’s headquarters in central London on 30 April, when the prize winners will be announced.They will also get the chance to attend a workshop in the morning at the Guardian’s headquarters.
Speaking at last year’s awards ceremony, Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International UK, added, “Our congratulations go to all the winners. It’s been a fantastic competition and we’re proud to be encouraging the next generation of human rights journalists. Reporters play a vital role in shining a spotlight on the appalling human rights abuses that happen every day across the globe – issues that Amnesty frequently campaigns upon. And hopefully the entrants into the Young Human Rights Reporter of the Year can take up that mantle in the years ahead.”
Click here to read Charlie's article