|PIC1|The Evangelical Alliance has been given backing for its first ever national ‘Champions of Respect Awards’ from the Christian Charity Tearfund. The initiative comes in the wake of waves of negative publicity that have emerged against young people in today’s media, and aims to change that perception and to give the new generation an opportunity to contribute to society.

Tearfund, one of the leading relief and development organisations in the UK, will sponsor a team to be designated to one of its overseas projects, which will be awarded to the overall winner of the competition.

The awards are jointly being organised by the Evangelical Alliance, Youth for Christ and Crusaders, as well as the African and Caribbean Evangelical Alliance (ACEA) and JUMP (Jesus Use My Potential).
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The Acting General Director of Tearfund, Graham Fairbairn said, “We are delighted to be able to offer this opportunity for a young person to experience a relief and development project at first hand. Tearfund has worked with local partners in more than 70 countries around the world. Communities are encouraged to come up with initiatives to shape their own future. These could be providing healthcare, literacy classes, clean water and sanitation, HIV/AIDS education and drug rehabilitation programmes. I fully expect the trip to be a life changing experience.”

The General Director of the Evangelical Alliance UK, Rev Joel Edwards said, “We have had a tremendous response to the Champions of respect Awards. The media is full of negative images of young people. We want to change that perception and tell the other story. We all know someone who deserves to be nominated for an award and we would encourage people to celebrate the committed work of these individuals.”
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The CEO of the ACEA, Rev Katei Kirby also added, “This is an excellent opportunity for young people, and their contribution to society, to be put in the spotlight for all the right reasons.”

There will be prizes in three categories, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rev Rowan Williams will present these awards as he gives a keynote speech at the Evangelical Alliance’s Temple Address on 10th November 2005.

The national Champions of Respect Awards are now accepting nominations online at this address: www.championsofrespect.org