A team of Year 12 students from Ramsey Grammar School were triumphant at this year’s One World Charity Challenge finals held at the Manx Museum last Wednesday evening. It was a victorious return for the school after several years’ absence in the popular annual competition to engage young people in international development issues.

The winning team chose to represent Excellent Development, the charity which helps provide clean safe water to people in rural Africa and Asia by the use of sand dams, and delivered their multi-media presentation in the style of a news broadcast. Their enthusiasm and professional approach won over the judges who also commended them for presenting their case study so well and their idea for fundraising which involved a sponsored walk in recognition of the long daily treks many African children have to complete to collect water.

As overall winners, the Ramsey Grammar School team won ?4,000 for Excellent Development and also picked up a further ?250 for the charity by being the team most successful in their own fundraising and an additional ?250 for winning the audience vote on the Finals night.

Runners up this year were Castle Rushen High School who claimed ?3,000 for Grace Third World Fund, a charity operating for orphaned children and supporting those affected by leprosy in India. Queen Elizabeth II school won ?2,450 for Koru Hospital Fund in Kenya, Ballakermeen High School won ?2,000 for Global Action Nepal, plus a further ?250 prize as the team who carried out the most creative fundraising.

There were two teams in the finals from King Williams College due to the large number of students participating in the earlier in-school round of the competition – they were awarded ?1,000 each for their charities, Thare Machi Education which produces local language DVDS on healthcare issues for rural communities and the St George Foundation which supports homeless street children in Sierra Leone.

Overall a total of ?22,000 was given to charities working overseas through the course of the competition with smaller amounts given to teams taking part in the in-school rounds ahead of the finals.

The prize fund is generously provided by the H&S Davidson Trust, who developed the idea for the competition with the One World Centre back in 2008. For the past seven years, the prize fund has been match-funded by the Isle of Man’s International Development Committee and in total over ?150,000 has been distributed to charities working overseas since the competition began.

Judges at the event included Hon Phil Gawne, chairman of the International Development Committee, David Anderson MLC (also on the International Development Committee), Director of Education Geoff Moorcroft, two representatives from local charities involved in international development Haresh Measuria and Jacqui Keenan, and a young person from each of the schools involved in this year’s competition.

Mr Gawne presented the cheques to the winning teams and Hugh Davidson, of the H&S Davidson Trust, invited His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, Adam Wood, to present the Frances Davidson Cup to the Ramsey Grammar team.

His Excellency is patron of the One World Centre and has been an enthusiastic supporter of the One World Charity Challenge during his tenure. Addressing the students and invited audience, the Lieutenant Governor said that this was one of the events he would miss following his forthcoming departure from the Island, having been “one of the most stimulating evenings” on his calendar. He praised the students for the hard work and creativity they had shown in helping open the eyes of the Isle of Man to the wider world.

One World Charity Challenge Co-ordinator Helen Kneale added: “It was a fantastic evening with the teams presenting the work of their chosen charities in a very engaging and enthusiastic manner, covering issues such as the work undertaken by the charity and how it has helped to transform the life of a young person.

“This is the first year that I have been involved with the competition and, along with the audience, I have been very impressed with the diligence, understanding and empathy the students have shown.

“It’s clear the students also benefit greatly themselves from participating in the One World Charity Challenge, learning and developing skills that are of key importance in the world of employment, such as teamwork, research, presentation and organisational skills.”

Photo -  The winning team from Ramsey Grammar School receive their prize from Phil Gawne MHK. From left, Ben Hardman, Maian Salmon, Jacob Shand, Ciara Goddard, Nicole Pressley and Emilie Haddock.