BYA Awards 2012 | Page 5

BYA Annual Review Following the BYA Awards in 2011, the first ever BYA Ambassadors were recruited and introduced on May 9th at an event called ‘Building Your Aspirations’, which was held at Pearson Plc head office on The Strand, London. The Ambassadors will eventually become THE face of BYA, representing young people nationally and internationally. To support them in their roles they will receive ongoing training and opportunities to acquire new skills and expertise. This year they worked alongside Legal & General and Elaine Powell. Further training will take place in 2013 as we welcome new Ambassadors from the 2012 award finalists. During the summer, BYA worked in conjunction with CACFO (Croydon African Caribbean Family Organisation) to deliver the 2nd annual Croydon’s Next Top Role Model. This event was the highlight of a three week personal development programme that saw 30 young people between the ages of 7 and 19 come together to learn new skills such as raising sponsorship, administration, events management. They worked completely out of their comfort zone, but by the day of the event they had grown in confidence and abilities. Croydon’s Next Top Role Model then saw a number of local people nominated for their contributions to the community, with a public vote from the 150-strong audience choosing their top 3. BYA were invited to the Fairfield Halls in Croydon for a ‘Conversation for Change’ with the great Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his daug