Young Ambassador guide
Guide for club officers as a PDF
YOUNG AMBASSADOR OF THE 21st CENTURY
CLUB OFFICERS' GUIDE
1. Introduction
The aim of the scheme, which operates throughout Europe, is to recognise, encourage and support young people who are actively involved in the welfare of the community, supporting the best of our Lions' ideals. In previous years, candidates have been involved in helping young and older people, disabled, able bodied and disadvantaged and have organised projects in conservation, crime prevention, promoting healthier lifestyles, hospital radio and other initiatives.
2. Rules and Selection Process
The scheme will take the form of the selection of a Young Ambassador of the 21st Century, with an award made at the annual Multiple District (MD) Final.
a) Candidates are required to be selected by a Lions, Leo or Lioness club. Thereafter, each club is responsible for actively sponsoring the candidate at subsequent levels and should be aware of the commitment required to support the candidate, together with bearing the cost of their candidate's expenses. Expenses incurred can correctly be drawn from the club's Charity account.
b) Each participating club is asked to contribute a District fee of £25, £20 of which is for forwarding by District Treasurers to the Youth Trust. It is further suggested that all clubs support MD with a contribution of £50 towards the expenses of all the Lions Youth Programmes. These fees should be received by the District Treasurer not later than 30th September of the award year and the MD fee can then be paid to the MD Youth Trust by 31st January.
b) The scheme is open to male and female candidates within the age limits as follows:
To be eligible, candidates must have reached their 15th birthday, but not their 19th birthday, on or before 30th June in the year in which the MD Final is to be held.
c) Members of Leo and Lioness clubs are eligible to put themselves forward for selection as a candidate, provided that they are not sponsored by their own club and are within the age range specified.
d) Previous winners of an MD Young Ambassador Final are not eligible for selection as candidates. However, non-winning former participants are eligible, providing they still fall within the age range and are sponsored by a Lions club.
e) Candidates will progress through the various levels (Club, Zone, Region and District) up to the MD Final. The MD Final winner will progress to the European Final to be held at Europa Forum.
f) The Young Ambassador of the 21st Century award consists of:
• A bursary of £1,500 (£500 as a District winner plus £1,000 as an MD winner)
• A trophy to be held for one year
• A small replica
• A commitment to address the MD Convention in that year, with expenses paid by the MD Youth Trust
• An invitation to the MD International Youth Centre of that year, with expenses paid by the MD Youth Trust.
• A commitment to participate in the Young Ambassador of the 21st Century European award, to be held at Europa Forum later in the same year, with expenses paid by the MD Youth Trust.
All other participants in the MD Final will win a bursary of £500. Candidates may be awarded further prizes at the discretion of their sponsoring club and District.
Important Note - the winners' bursaries are to be used for the welfare work within the candidates' projects or for training to develop the candidates' potential to carry out this welfare work. These bursaries are not intended to be for the personal financial benefit of the candidates. The only personal benefit to be derived is the encouragement of character development through participation in the scheme.
3. Procedures for Club, Zone, Region and District Finals
a) Clubs should appoint a member interested in young people as Club Young Ambassador Officer, who should liaise with the District Young Ambassador Officer.
b) This District Officer is responsible for supporting the clubs, briefing Zone and Region chairmen as necessary, circulating posters and leaflets to the Club Officers and advising where Application Forms and Club Guides can be downloaded from the Lions website.
c) The Club Officer should prepare an explanatory letter for distribution to likely sources of candidates and follow up with personal calls to clubs for young people, volunteer groups, churches, schools, colleges, scouts/guides, cadets, community groups, St John Ambulance, wardens of old people's homes, nurseries, disabled groups and others.
d) Club Officers will need to promote the scheme to generate potential candidates' interest, by obtaining media publicity - issue press releases, display posters in suitable locations, always including a name and contact details as a source of further information
e) The Application Form is a Word document and can be downloaded from the MD website or accessed through the District Officer. All requested information should be included, together with supporting documents listed.
f) The winning candidate of each level of the competition proceeds to the next level as follows: Winner of Club Competition → Zone Competition → Region Competition → District Competition → MD Final. Club Presidents, Zone and Region Chairmen and District
Officers take responsibility for their particular level of these competitions. The relevant Officer
is responsible for organising the presentation of the prizes and certificates. The District Governor, District Officer or Club President could be invited to make this presentation.
g) If there is only one candidate at any level, this candidate will be deemed the winner of that level.
h) Plan the format of an event to judge the best candidate to proceed to the next level.
i) Appoint three non-Lion judges, male and female, from education, youth or community service and industry or commerce. If possible, change one of the judges each year, with judges progressing to be lead judge/chairman in their final third year. Provide the judges with copies of the candidates' Application Forms, supporting materials and a copy of this Guide. Outline the priorities and the aims and objectives of the scheme. Discuss the method of judging, which could be interview, presentation or both, and the judges' role in identifying the winner.
j) No candidate may be related to any member of the judging panel.
k) Provide the judges with marking sheets containing the criteria for the categories they will be judging as follows:
• The extent of the candidate's involvement in community service, for which 50% of the marks are allocated.
• The personality and leadership qualities of the candidate (15% of the marks).
• The candidate's proposals for the use of the bursary (15% of the marks).
• The ability to speak for up to 3 minutes about the candidate's service activities (20% of the marks). N.B. This timing may be increased at rounds prior to the MD Final, as decided by the District Officer but may not exceed 3 minutes at the MD Final.
l) Arrange venue, date and time and issue invitations to District and MD Lions, friends and candidates' supporters. Invite local press to maximise publicity from the event. Prepare an agenda, which could be in the following format:
1. Short introduction of the event, the candidates and their sponsoring clubs. Welcome to any guests. Make a random selection for the order in which the candidates will be judged. Between each candidate, ensure that the judges have sufficient time to make notes and enter up the marking sheets before introducing the next candidate.
2. Each candidate is required to speak for 3 minutes (or longer see page 2, point k,) on their community work, either to the judges only or as a presentation to an audience. They may display photographs and illustrations of their work if they wish, but powerpoint is not permitted.
3. The judges will then ask each candidate a number of questions for clarification on their presentation and the information contained on their application form. The presentation and interview should last approximately 20 minutes.
4. Each judge will complete a marking sheet for each candidate and the lead judge will calculate the winner. If there is a tie, the judges will discuss the candidates and reach consensus.
5. The candidates and any audience present will be advised of the result. Invite the lead judge to comment on the candidates and congratulate everyone for taking part. Prizes at Club, Zone, Region and District competitions are at the discretion of the Lions' District, as are letters of thanks to their judges.
4. Multiple District Final
1. One candidate only may represent each District in the MD Final.
2. Each District Officer should prepare the following information for the MD Final and send it to the MD Young Ambassador Committee Chairman as requested. This can be in hard copy or sent electronically. If hard copy, the number of copies is stipulated.
a. Application forms x 4 with passport size photos attached
b. 6" x 4" photo for the display stand at the Finals
c. 4 copies of the Bursary Plan for £500 as submitted at District Final and signed by the sponsoring Lions club
d. 4 copies of the Bursary Plan for £1,000 signed by the sponsoring Lions Club
e. 4 copies of the District Final Lead Judge's recommendation of the candidate
f. 1 copy of the signed Code of Conduct Form
g. 1 copy of the signed Information and Consent Form
h. 1 copy of the signed Travel Arrangements Consent Form (if needed)
i. 1 copy of the description of the candidate's activities (150 words in length) - this may be written by the candidate and will be displayed with their photo on the display stand at the MD Final.
The candidates will be supplied with a Young Ambassador polo shirt, so size will be required, together with preferred first name to go on their Young Ambassador badge.
3. Judges will be appointed in the same way as for Club, Zone, Region and District Finals and will each serve for 3 years, taking the lead in their final year.
4. The District Officer, who must be CRB checked, is responsible for supporting the candidate at the MD Final, which is a weekend event.
5. The MD Young Ambassador Committee Chairman organises a suitable hotel for the event - perhaps a hotel with gym and health club, reasonably priced and large enough to accommodate everyone in the same venue. Through the District Officers, all clubs, District and MD Officers are invited to attend the weekend, together with local dignitaries like the Mayor of the Town and Lions District Governors and Council Chairman.
a. Candidates, judges and last year's winner, arrive on Friday afternoon. Their expenses for the weekend are paid by MD. This includes accommodation, meals, the activities throughout the weekend and one short telephone call home for the candidates.
b. Friday evening: This opens with an informal "ice-breaker" for the candidates and a short welcome and introduction to Lions, families and supporters. A random selection will be made for times for candidate interviews the next day.
c. "Fun night" with a buffet meal and informal games.
d. Saturday daytime: Candidate interviews all day. Half of the candidates will be interviewed in the morning and half in the afternoon, with an activity like Ten Pin Bowling for the other half of the day. Candidates take lunch together in the hotel.
Judging: The candidates will be interviewed by the judges in private. The candidates are required to make a 3 minute presentation. They will then be interviewed by the judges. They may take along an illustration of their work in the form of a display board but are not permitted to show powerpoint or other electronic presentation and are not able to submit any additional information than that originally requested with their application form. Each candidate is allocated 30 minutes: 3 minutes for their presentation, 15 minutes for interview and 12 minutes for judges' private discussion before the next candidate. At the end of the judging, the lead judge calculates the winner from the individual judges' scores. If there is a tie. the judges will discuss the candidates and reach consensus.
e. Candidates' evening entertainment - Once the judging is completed, the candidates prepare an evening entertainment for the Gala Dinner.
f. Saturday evening: a Gala Dinner will take place, with entertainment by the candidates, followed by dancing.
g. Sunday morning: The MD Committee Chairman and District Officers hold a meeting to exchange feedback on the weekend and make any suggestions for the next event. Posters and leaflets are circulated for distribution to clubs. Plans for a mid-year meeting are made.
Sunday morning Presentation and announcement of MD winner
1. Clubs, Zones, Regions, Districts and MD Lions are invited to attend this presentation, together with any special guests, friends and families.
2. Approximate timetable:
• Candidates are invited to complete an Evaluation of the weekend, with their ideas considered for the improvement of future events. They will be briefed on the format of the presentation ceremony.
• The editor of the Lion Magazine and a designated Lion are invited to take photographs of the candidates.
• The Mayor and official party arrives.
• The audience assembles at 10.30 a.m. and the official party including Council Chairman, Mayor and Consort and candidates enter with their District Officer.
The ceremony includes the following:
• Welcome by the MD Young Ambassador Officer.
• 3 minute presentations by all the candidates (the District Officers are responsible for ensuring that this time is not exceeded)
• Presentation by last year's winning Young Ambassador
• Speech by the Mayor and Council Chairman
• Feedback from the Lead Judge and announcement of the prize winner.
• Presentation of trophies and certificates of congratulation
• Close of ceremony and end of Finals weekend, normally by about 12.30 p.m.
Suggested Timetable for the Year
June to October Promotion of the scheme by clubs and arrangements made for the club competition.
End October - Club finals completed.
November - Zone and region competitions completed.
December - Preparation of information for the District Final.
January - District Final completed and information about the winner sent to the MD Young Ambassador Committee Chairman.
Mid/End January All information received by the MD Young Ambassador Committee Chairman in preparation for the MD Final.
February - MD Final held.
MD Final Winner's Responsibilities
Attendance at the European Final The winner's club and District Officer are responsible for ensuring that the MD Final winner prepares all the information needed for the European Finals, which will be held at Europa Forum later that same year, normally in October/November. A European Application Form will be supplied, with instruction as to when this will be required by the European Committee Chairman.
Attendance at MD Convention a short address to convention, which can be the 3 minute presentation plus an update.
Attendance at next year's MD Finals to support candidates and help with organisation.
