Building the skills of Diana Award recipients

“Young changemakers are sacrificing their financial security and wellbeing to change the world.” The Possibilists

The Diana Award is the charity legacy to Diana, Princess of Wales’ belief that young people have the power to change the world. We recognise this power by awarding young people with a prestigious Diana Award and enrolling them on a year-long Development Programme to enhance their personal and professional skills. 

We are grateful to British Airways Better World Community Fund for pledging their support to this programme, but now we need your help to raise an additional £1000 to provide further training on the skills that will help these young social activists level up their work.

WHY DO WE NEED TO DO THIS?

Although Diana Award recipients continue to amaze us, we also know that they face significant barriers to continuing their work as they deal with increasing financial pressures – especially in light of the cost of living crisis – and juggle a multitude of competing priorities such as education and work. Research from The Possibilists showed that the majority of young changemakers suffered some form of burnout and needed support to increase their wellbeing. 

Many young social entrepreneurs also face systemic inequalities and lack of financial opportunities which hinder their ability to reach their ambitions. Also, young people can also struggle to connect with relevant and influential stakeholders, which limits the reach of their hard work. 

We know that Diana Award recipients have powerful ambitions, therefore it is crucial that we support them to harness the skills needed to continue and amplify their work.

“This is what I really like about the Diana Award: It’s not just that you get an award and go to a fancy ceremony and its done; there is a continuation of support for a lifetime. And the network, the family, the community that now I belong to. That whole eco-system is just so helpful both for all sorts of support, but also in terms of resources.” - Shomy Hasan-Chowdhury, Diana Award recipient.

HOW WILL WE SUPPORT YOUNG PEOPLE?

We are keen to offer structured skills sessions that provide Diana Award recipients with training from industry experts on the skills they tell us they need to strengthen their social action work. With these skills sessions, we hope to narrow the gap between young people’s ambitions and the skills and resources they have to achieve these. 

We will deliver three sessions on skills that young people identify as most relevant and important to them, from the following list of skills: 

• Wellbeing and mental health
• Fundraising
• Managing stakeholders
• Measuring and increasing impact 
• Storytelling
• Strategy and scaling
• Project management 
• Creative campaigning

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Your donation would enable us to support these incredible young people even further, by equipping them with the invaluable skills they need to deliver their impressive work. 

We are also excited to be offering rewards for your pledges, ranging from The Diana Award supporter badges, to even having the chance to be included on the Roll of Honour webpage as a supporter of the Award and Development Programme!

Please support us on our journey of empowering young people to change the world!

“To me the Diana Award has truly become a family. They are a constant driving force of support, acknowledgement, and resources. It has helped me grow as a person and as a leader. Princess Diana to me is a symbol of humanity driven by her passion for human connection. I am absolutely honoured to be connected to such a beautiful person and legacy and I will work hard to uphold her values and make the Diana Award proud.” - Maddison Tory, Diana Award recipient

FAQs

• How does the BA Better World Community Fund match funding work? British Airways Better World Community Fund have pledged £47,500 to support the delivery of the The Diana Award's Award and Development Programme. This covers the core delivery of the development programme. 
• How can a young person recieve a Diana Award?  Young people between the ages of 9-25 are nominated for a Diana Award by a professional they know (e.g., a mentor, teacher, manager, etc.) for their youth social action.  Youth social action refers to activities that young people do to make a positive difference to others or the environment (UK Youth).  We award up to 200 nominees every year, who are then invited to receive their award at a virtual ceremony which honours young social activists from across the globe. 
• What do Award recipients get through the Development Programme? Recipients gain access to resources, opportunities, and training and are given the opportunity to connect with one another through media training, networking events, and our Conversations for Change events. These events bring together Diana Award recipients with the wider Diana Award alumni network and provide space for young people to build connections and discuss social issues relating to their work. In creating these spaces of solidarity through the Award and Development Programme, we support these young leaders to develop peer networks and enhance the networking and communication skills that are pivotal in their social action and humanitarian work. Check out our Award and Development webpage here: https://diana-award.org.uk/our-programmes-and-initiatives/award-and-development  
• What are you crowdfunding for? We are crowdfunding for an additional £1000 on top of our BA Better World pledge to deliver three skills sessions and additional opportunities for the young people that we are supporting through the Award and Development Programme. This is not part of the existing Award and Development Programme that BA Better World Community Fund are supporting, but an additional ambition arising from the needs that young people have identified to us around developing specific skills to support their social action work. 
• How will my money be used?  This funding would be used for: a) Paying for industry professionals to deliver these sessions, b) the associated admin and management costs of delivering these sessions, and c) additional skills development opportunities for recipients and alumni, such as inviting them to write for The Diana Award blog and deliver talks as part of the Conversations for Change.  
• Will donating to the Crowdfunder increase my chances of getting a Diana Award? No. Diana Award nominations are a retrospective process, rather than young people being able to work directly towards the award. Donating to the crowdfunder is not linked to our current nominations process for the 2023 Awards and will not impact your chances. 
• How do the rewards work? On a sliding scale, e.g., donations between £5 and £15 will receive a badge, donations between £16 and £30 will receive a badge and tote bag, and so on. 
• When will I receive my reward? For anything going through the post (badges, tote bags, personalised thank you letters from the CEO), we aim to get those to you within 2-4 weeks of the crowdfunder closing date if you are based in the UK, and within 4-6 weeks if you are based internationally. If you have pledged to have your name as a supporter in the Roll of Honour, we will get in touch to let you know once we have uploaded this!
• Do I have to pay for postage on my reward? If you are based in the UK, postage is included in your pledge. Due to higher costs, if you are based internationally, we ask you to donate an additional £3 for a pledge under £15 (with the badge as a reward), and an additional £5 for a pledge above £15 (with the badge and tote bag as a reward) to cover the cost of shipping. You will be able to select this in the rewards options. 
• Will there be delays to my order? There may be a small chance your order could be delayed in light of recent Royal Mail disruptions. If we face any delays, we will be sure to keep you updated!
• How else does The Diana Award support young people? The Diana Award works with young people by unlocking their potential, creating opportunities for their growth, and inspiring action from them to lead the change they want to see. Check out our About Us page here: https://diana-award.org.uk/about-us  
• I am having problems with the Crowdfunder website. Check out this very useful site by Crowdfunder that covers a lot of the common supporter queries: https://intercom.help/crowdfunder/en/collections/1422295-supporter-questions