Going to the cinema? Can you spot CHANGEit?

If you're planning to go to the cinema any time soon, keep and eye out for CHANGEit. Common Purpose and Deutsche Bank have launched a batch of cinema postcards to help spread the word about the opportunities available through CHANGEit. So keep your eyes peeled and if you find them, post them to friends, family and colleagues who might know someone to nominate, hand them out to friends who have ideas for campaigns or pin them up on your wall and nominate yourself!

Remember...you don't have to be a superhero to make a positive change in the world. Anyone can CHANGEit!

CHANGEit wants your pictures!

Are you savvy with a camera but need a subject? Why not take pictures of young people volunteering or campaigning!

CHANGEit is looking for photos of young people and 'campaigning in action'. We want to see all the great things young people are doing so we can help spread the word! Is there a volunteer group in your area that is making positive change? Do you have a friend who has taken action to change something in their school, club or community? Do you participate in campaign activities? Take your camera or borrow someone elses and get snapping!

CHANGEit has prizes of £250 for winning entries and will display all finalist photos at an exhibition in central London and online.

It's a terrific opportunity! For more information visit www.changeit.org.uk.

CHANGEit is making changes...

True to our title, CHANGEit is making changes again. This year, we've totally re-designed the website with useful lesson plans and campaigner tools, a press centre, a new blog and lots of fun features and photos. We've also added another category - a photography contest! We're looking for young people's pictures of 'campaigning in action that has been started or helped by young people.

So get your cameras out, your ideas organised and your mouse ready. CHANGEit opens for nominations starting tomorrow - 1 October 2008!

To submit a nomination, visit www.changeit.org.uk!

Get ready to CHANGEit!

The next round of CHANGEit awards is coming up soon!

This year, prizes are available in 3 categories:

Innovation
for young people who have big ideas but need help getting them off the ground
Performance
for young people who have already launched campaigns that are making a difference
Photography
a photo contest for young people to capture campaigning and change in action

So put on your thinking caps, nominate yourself or your friends and dust off your camera to find the change that's happening throughout the uk.

Nominations will open on 1 October. For more information visit CHANGEit.

And the winners are...

CHANGEit is delighted to announce the winners for the 2008 CHANGEit Awards. All of the finalist campaigns were very deserving and have made a tremendous difference in their communities. The judges had a very difficult decision to make, but in the end the winners were:

Performance Category

Matts Hideout
Matthew, 18, was diagnosed with Dyspraxia at the age of 10. Since that time he has operated Matts-Hideout.co.uk, an informational resource and discussion forum for other young people with Dyspraxia and acted as a spokesperson at conferences.

Circle of Youth
Marley, Georgina, Sian and Skyler, 13-16, call themselves the Circle of Youth and for the last 2 years have written and distributed newsletters to their local community, developed a DVD on the history of Tairgwaith in Wales and spearheaded the construction of a garden for local residents.

Romeo & Julian, Rosemary & Juliet
Members of the Wigan B.yoU Project, 15-18, decided to action against homophobia by performing ‘Romeo & Julian, Rosemary & Juliet’, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic, to deal with lesbian, gay and bi-sexual issues.

Innovation Category

Smile with Style
Tara, 14, from SE London is starting Smile with Style, a campaign to get young people working on creative projects to sell at local markets and raise money for Smile Train and youth clubs in South London.

We want to work
Lewis, Jamie and Emma, 14, call their campaign We Want to Work and aim to create work experience for young people under the age of 16 in Edinburgh to provide practical training and skills and let them test out a variety of career interests.

Get Ca$h Keep Ca$h
Henry, Alex, Luke and Vignesh, 13-14, have started a campaign called Get Ca$h Keep Ca$h which aims to inform young people about responsible finances via an interactive website so they form good habits and are prepared for the future.

Congratulations to all the winners! We can't wait to hear about how your campaigns progress!

Time to celebrate!

The ceremony date has finally arrived and today all our finalists will gather with friends, family and supporters to find out who has won a CHANGEit Award. Ben Shephard from GMTV will be our celebrity presenter to announce the winners in the Innovation and Performance categories.

Today's celebration isn't the end of the CHANGEit process though. Creating positive change is something we all must commit to every day. The CHANGEit finalists have all demonstrated that it's possible to make a difference with a great idea, a little determination and a bit of help from your friends. The innovation finalists are just beginning their campaigns with so much potential. And our performance finalists have in intention of stopping their campaigns now, they simply keep coming up with more ideas and more things they can do to take action on issues that are important to them. We hope you will continue to support the CHANGEit campaigners and cheer them on for the work they do. We will post updates on the finalists and winners on the blog and keep you updated on our website at www.CHANGEit.org.uk.

A big thank you to Deutsche Bank for their sponsorship and support. Thank you to Common Purpose for organising and running the awards. Thank you to the individuals and organisations that have donated their time and services to the award scheme. Thank you to everyone who has nominated a campaign and all those who continue to support young campaigners. Lastly, thank you to the 2008 CHANGEit finalists. You are an inspiration!

New CHANGEit Website!

We've moved! That's right, now everything you need to know about the CHANGEit Awards can be found at www.changeit.org.uk. The awards are still run by Common Purpose and sponsored by Deutsche Bank, but now we have our own domain name so we can offer even more information and resources on the web.

Keep an eye on the blog and our new website for changes, additions and information about the launch of the next nomination period. If you have a campaign idea or you're already out there creating positive change, we want to hear about and recognise you!

And don't forget...on 14 May 2008 we'll be celebrating our finalists and winners in the Innovation and Performance categories at an exciting award ceremony in London. If you're interested in attending, send us and email or call +44 (0)20 7608 8148.