Director of the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) at the Institute for Philanthropy Alex Reynolds is to attend the finals ceremony of the One World Charity Challenge in March. Before joining the Institute in London in 2009, Mr Reynolds was education adviser at CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) where he designed and developed education programmes including ‘Green Day', an event about climate change for schools now involving more than 150,000 pupils across the UK annually. Prior to CABE he was director of studies at the Oporto British School in Portugal. He was part of the inaugural cohort of TeachFirst, a charity addressing educational disadvantage, and taught geography for two years at the West London Academy. Between graduating from Newcastle University and joining TeachFirst, he was a tour guide in various European cities. He has also worked on a range of education projects in Nepal, Uganda, Japan and Ethiopia. He is visiting the Isle of Man at the invitation of Hugh Davidson, chairman of the H&S Davidson Trust, sponsor of the challenge and alumnus of the Institute for Philanthropy. Mr Davidson said: ‘I’m delighted Alex is coming to the Island to attend the finals on March 22 at the Manx Museum. As YPI director Alex is responsible for programmes operating in more than 100 schools in London and Scotland.’ Mr Reynolds said: ‘Due in part to a heightened focus on the “Big Society” campaign, philanthropy has taken on a more public profile and people are realising the value of programmes like YPI and the One World Charity Challenge. Clearly there are similarities between the two programmes, although the Challenge focuses more on the international perspective. I’m very pleased to be coming to the Isle of Man to learn more about the Challenge and attend the awards ceremony.’ YPI is an active citizenship schools programme that raises awareness among young people of philanthropy's role in supporting civil society. Working in small groups students identify and research local charities working to benefit their communities. Each group gives a presentation on their chosen cause and the team judged the best in each school is awarded ?3000 for their nominated charity. Now in its fourth year the One World Charity Challenge is a Freedom to Flourish initiative co-ordinated by the One World Centre that aims to encourage Year 12 students gain a broader understanding of development and global citizenship issues. Student teams research Manx-registered charities working overseas or ones supported by the Overseas Aid Committee. Following a series of in-school presentations to decide which charities are to be represented, the finalists make their presentations at an awards ceremony before a panel of judges who determine each team’s share of a grant pool funded by the H&S Davidson Trust and, for the third year in succession, matched by the Isle of Man Overseas Aid Committee. Mr Davidson continued: ‘The One World Charity Challenge was modelled on the YPI, which was launched in Canada and later extended to the UK. We made modifications to the YPI model, applying the challenge to overseas charities only and changing the prize structure in order that all teams participating receive a proportion of the grant pool.’ During his visit Mr Reynolds will meet with the One World Centre team who last year relocated to new headquarters at Thie Garey Ny Cloie in St John’s. This year the One World Charity Challenge has attracted more than 30 student teams and generated an awards fund in excess of ?20,000. The finals and awards ceremony will take place before an invited audience at the Manx Museum on Tuesday March 22. www.oneworldcentreiom.org www.instituteforphilanthropy.org Ends