Young people awarded for Care of the Environment

St Gregory's winners with Cardinal Vincent

Catholic youth charity Million Minutes celebrated outstanding social action by young people at its inaugural Celebrating Young People Awards on 1 July, in the presence of Cardinal Vincent Nichols, head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. The three recipients for the Barbara Ward Award for caring for the environment were: St Gregory's Eco Committee from St Gregory's Catholic Science College, Harrow; the Fisher More CAFOD bloggers from Colne in Lancashire; and Isabella Breslin from Notre Dame High School in Sheffield. This category was sponsored by the Columban missionaries and presenters were Ellen Teague and Megan Russell.

St Gregory's Eco Committee has raised awareness of environmental issues throughout the school and initiated a number of campaigns involving pupils from all years. Achievements include caring for an eco-garden and reducing energy consumption in the school. A 9% reduction in general waste was achieved by increasing recycling and introducing plastic bottle recycling bins in the playground and canteen. The group also worked with the Student Parliament to introduce a system whereby each year group is responsible for keeping an area of the school litter-free. The school recently secured the Eco Schools Green Flag for the second time.

Eleven Year 10 pupils volunteered for the Eco Committee in the autumn term of Year 9 as a one-year assignment. They willingly stayed on for another year to support the new Year 9 Committee through the Green Flag renewal application. St Gregory's is the only school in Brent and one of only five secondary state schools in London to hold the Eco Schools Green Flag Award. Three representatives of the eco committee - Klaudia Grabczak and Shuell DeSouza and Molly Colins - were photographed Cardinal Vincent Nichols at the awards, along with Angela Utubor, the school's head girl, who achieved a nomination and certificate for the Jimmy Mizen Award (Promoting Solidarity and Peace).

Maisie, Hollis, Hannah & Theo (aged 14-15) of SS John Fisher and Thomas More School in Colne, Lancashire, are Fisher More CAFOD Bloggers. They run a video eco blog, suggesting that simple things like switching a light off really make a difference to care of the environment. They launched a campaign at Fisher More, delivering assemblies to raise environmental awareness in the school community. Quickly realizing that this was an issue bigger than just the school community, the group invited Andrew Stephenson MP to a question and answer session during which he was asked to outline the government's plans for minimising damage to our planet. He went away and brought the questions to Prime Minister's questions. The group's work has been published on the school website and in the local press. Their school chaplain says, "the bloggers have a determination to make a difference in our world however small, and do it with great love".

Isabella Breslin is 14 and a staunch advocate for environmental issues, spearheading a campaign to reduce wasted electricity in her school, which is Notre Dame Hugh School in Sheffield. She represented the school when it applied to maintain its 'Green Flag' status. Isabella doesn't just see this as a responsibility, but something she is very proud to be able to take a stand on. Isabella has also been instrumental in organising activities for Primary Feeder school students to attend and learn about the natural world. Her head of Year says, "she is something of an 'unsung' hero within the year group, dedicating more of her time to issues of environmental stewardship than any other member of the year".

This award category is named after Barbara Ward, an English economist and Catholic who was one of the first advocates of sustainable development and environmentalism. Ward was present in Rome throughout much of the Second Vatican Council and was the defining lay influence on the inception and implementation of the idea that the Church should create a 'global secretariat' to advance its work for social justice and development. She helped found both the International Institute of Environment and Development and the Pontifical Commission (now Council) for Justice and Peace. The day after the establishment of the commission, Barbara Ward was appointed as a member by Pope Paul VI and remained so until the end of her life in 1981.

The 1 July ceremony in Central London brought together leading voluntary organisations and figures from the Catholic Church to recognise young people and youth workers whose contribution reflects the values of Catholic Social Teaching. Million Minutes hopes that the awards will celebrate and inspire young people to get more involved in social action projects, as well as helping everyone to reflect on how Catholic Social Teaching can be lived out every day. Awards will be presented annually.

See a list of all the award recipients and their stories here: www.millionminutes.org/celebrating-young-people-award-recipients/

Read also: ICN 2 July 2015 - London: Celebrating Young People Awards www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=27835