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Variety’s Young Star of the Year Winner was announced in a poignant ceremony on Sunday 19th June. Deserving youngsters were recognised for their many commendable achievements and sixteen-year-old Abigail Ellis was crowned Variety’s Young Star of the Year 2022.

This year’s nominations were vast, with touching and triumphant stories from Jersey’s young community. Government House was the scene for an extraordinary ‘Wizard of Oz’ themed event and Liam Clements from Performers gave up his time to act as MC for the special ceremony.

The Awards acknowledged outstanding examples of courage, caring, creativity, skill and selflessness.

After winning the ‘Young Star in the Community’ category, Abigail Ellis was crowned the overall winner and credited for the amazing work she has carried out in Jersey to support the community.

Abigail is a senior Cadet in the Mountbatten unit of Jersey’s St John Ambulance Cadets and has already been a recipient of the Grand Prior’s Award – the highest award a Cadet can achieve which recognized the hard work Abigail had put in. She now holds the rank of Cadet Sergeant and assists the adult leaders with running the unit and supervising activities for the younger Cadets. In January 2022, Abigail was chosen as the Jersey Cadet of the Year 2022.

As well as her work with St John Ambulance, Abigail is the Chairperson of the Grands Vaux Young Members Committee and a senior Prefect at her school. She is also a young leader at St Mark’s Guide Unit and helps every year with the float for the St Saviour’s Battle of the Flowers Committee.

The judging panel this year consisted of Lady Anne Dalton, John Testori from Bambola Toymaster and Malcolm Lewis from Longueville Manor who said:

‘Young Star has always been a difficult event to judge as every one of these amazing youngsters is a winner. This year was no exception and we all felt very honoured to be part of this opportunity to recognise some of Jersey’s finest and most committed Young Stars.’

Alongside Abigail, many other young Islanders were recognised at the event in categories such as ‘Young Star of Courage’, ‘Community’, ‘Sports’ and ‘Arts and Academia’. Winners of each category were awarded £500 worth of Powerhouse vouchers, while finalists were awarded £100 worth of Powerhouse and Bambola vouchers.

This year Variety also decided to award a one-off Bravery award to recognise two young friends who had faced an incredibly frightening experience together. CJ Ballantyne (8) and Jace Renouf (7) were playing together when an altercation with another youth resulted in a knife being pulled. It was only the quick-thinking of Jace who pushed his friend out of the way that prevented a potentially serious incident.

Sandra Auckland, Chief Barker and Chairman for this event for Variety, The Children’s Charity of Jersey, said:

‘Every year I am more and more amazed by the young stars of Jersey. The nominations are always so poignant and inspirational. This year, every finalist has demonstrated strength, hard work and dedication that is well beyond their years. This event is so important, not only to recognise their past achievements but also to encourage their future aspirations. An event like this wouldn’t be possible without our sponsors. We are so grateful for their contributions, especially the Channel Islands Co-operative Society. I am also thankful to our judges, it’s always a difficult job because each story is so unique and moving.

I would also like to thank our sponsors Stage2, Slingshot Films and Performers who have given so much of their time to help create this wonderful event.’

In January 2022, the Jersey Community Foundation confirmed the creation of the Platinum Jubilee Lottery Fund to support projects helping the community celebrate the Queen’s 70-year reign.

The Platinum Jubilee Fund will ensure that thousands of people from across the Island will have the opportunity to take part in exciting creative events – all in celebration of the Platinum Jubilee. From storytelling and making new music, through to woodland restoration, there will be a huge range of exciting activities for people of all ages and backgrounds to get involved in.

Gouray Church was one of the successful applicants and they are planning to hold a Jubilee Celebration, bringing the world-renowned choir of Kings College Cambridge to Jersey. Educational workshops will be available, and a concert will be held that focuses on heritage and youth as well as a Jubilee service with excerpts from the Coronation music composed for Her Majesty’s ascent to the throne.

Girlguiding Jersey will aim to hold a Jubilee Party to bring all 357 members of Girlguiding and members of the Trefoil Guild (Guiding for Adults) together. As the Patron, The Queen is an important figurehead for Girlguiding Jersey.

Jersey Heritage has received funding for their project, The King Charles II Experience, which will provide a historical link between Jersey and England through the past from King Charles II to Elizabeth II, highlighting the importance of Jersey and its place in restoring the monarchy.

Michelle Hervieu, Project Lead said: “The close link between King Charles II, Jersey and the present Queen have never been fully told and the importance to the crown of this small island and the events of the 17th century when the world was turned upside down meant that Jersey was at the very heart of the biggest changes England had ever seen.”

Another example to demonstrate the variety of projects being funded is a Joint Cadet Celebration on behalf of the Islands Cadet Forces; Sea Cadet, Combined Cadets, Army Cadets and Air Cadets providing a combined day of events for the staff and cadets to enjoy, with each person being issued with a specially commissioned Challenge Coin.

In all, 18 separate projects were awarded funding ranging from £1,000 to the maximum of £5,000 and all of them adhere to the three key themes of Young People, The Environment and Tradition.

Anna Terry, CEO of the Jersey Community Foundation said, “We were delighted to receive such an enthusiastic response to our call for applications. Each of the projects being funded is a unique opportunity to celebrate this momentous occasion and they are all varied and inclusive to ensure that the whole Island has an opportunity to take part.”

Following changes made in 2021, CI Lottery proceeds are now awarded with 50% of the proceeds going to the Arts, Culture, Heritage, Sports and Science sectors via the Jersey Community Foundation.

In the recent round of grant applications, Jersey Dementia was successfully awarded £9,583 to help provide art and music therapy to stimulate and engage with people living with dementia.

The regular weekly activities not only improve the well-being of those living with dementia but also offer respite to their carers who also attend these organised sessions. Additionally, some of the funds are being used to help create a 2022 Christmas card designed by someone with dementia which will be sold to raise funds for the charity.

People with dementia can often, in the later stages of their disease, have a limited ability to have rational thought. Some are no longer able to speak or walk unaided, and many have problems recalling recent events. However, the part of the brain which controls their emotional memory is less impacted and so stimulating the brain with music from their youth or performing simple tasks like painting by numbers can have transformative effects on quality of life.

Painting has been found to be particularly valuable in helping people living with dementia to communicate in a non-verbal way; when verbal communication is more difficult or has been lost. Research also suggests that listening to music or singing songs can provide emotional and behavioural benefits. Music has the power to relieve stress and reduce anxiety, agitation and depression, but also to be uplifting and joyous.

Susie Kelly, Volunteer and Activities Co-ordinator at Dementia Jersey said: “We are delighted to have received this grant from Jersey Community Foundation to enable us to offer these weekly art and music therapy activities. Musical memories are often preserved in dementia when other types of memories are lost and painting and drawing allow for the power of imagination which can make people living with dementia to feel more connected to the world and those around them. We have had an incredibly positive response to the activities so far and are looking forward to continuing to provide these facilities to deliver real and noticeable benefits to all those who attend.”

 Anna Terry, CEO of the Jersey Community Foundation added, “The CI lottery proceeds are there to benefit the whole of our island community. We are delighted with the way that Jersey Dementia is using the arts to help people living with dementia to express themselves and stimulate their minds as well as providing an enjoyable and safe space for them and their carers.”

Variety, the Children’s Charity of Jersey, is pleased to be opening the nominations for the next Young Star of the Year Awards after an enforced two-year break due to the pandemic. This will be the 10^th time that this inspirational award ceremony will take place.

Nominations can be made online at www.varietystar.org.je or hard copies of the nomination forms will be available in schools around Jersey or can be collected from all Co-operative food stores and parish halls from today. Nominations will close on Friday 21^st January 2022.

The awards celebrate courage, creativity and commitment of children and young people in Jersey, in a poignant ceremony. Islanders are invited to nominate the young people that they believe should be recognised and rewarded for their achievements. The event categories include:

• Courage
• Community
• Carer
• Sports
• Arts
• Academia

A special gala event will be held for the shortlisted youngsters on 19^th June. The ceremony will share the inspirational stories of the young stars, with the overall Young Star of the Year being awarded an incredible £5,000 towards a family holiday. Winners of each category will also receive £500 worth of Co-operative vouchers, and the runners up will take home £100 worth of vouchers. Every shortlisted youngster takes home a prize.

Sandra Auckland, Chairman of the Young Star event, says:

‘I am so happy to see the return of Young Star. It was absolutely necessary to cancel the last two events in order to keep our children and their families safe, but we are delighted to once again be able to recognise the many deserving youngsters in Jersey. I hope that many people will feel encouraged to put forward their nominations as this is an important chance to recognise Jersey’s diverse and vibrant young community.’

The Variety Young Star of the Year Awards is proudly sponsored by The Channel Islands Co-Operative Society.

Carl Winn, Head of Marketing, Membership and Travel at The Channel Islands Co-operative Society, says:

‘The Variety Young Star of the Year Awards is an important way to celebrate the many inspiring young Islanders in Jersey. The Channel Islands Co-Operative Society is honoured to once again be part of this heart-warming and important event. We encourage people to put forward their nominations to make sure that deserving youngsters are recognised for their achievements.’

We are pleased to announce the opening on 1^st October of The Space Art Gallery run by Charlie Lewis alongside Holly Walsh at the former site of the Pitt Stream Gallery on Pitt Street.

Charlie has been creating artwork for over 20 years, with two solo shows in the last few years and Holly is a talented local portrait artist, working in oils and acrylics.

The Space aims to encourage and develop new and emerging artists in all media, not only displaying their work but supporting artist collaborations to develop inspiration and creativity.

The gallery plans to hold 12 shows a year for six solo and six mixed artists. Their first solo exhibition entitled ‘Rescued Moments’ will feature the work of David Gleave, an exciting street photographer, who works mainly in black-and-white.

The Space will be open Wednesday to Saturday, from 10 am to 4 pm and everyone is welcome to visit the gallery to not only view the new exhibition, but also purchase original and signed editions of David’s work.

Visitors to the Elizabeth Marina on Sunday 19^th September were witness to a sea of blue t-shirts as over 750 islanders took part in this year’s RBC Race for The Kids raising money for Durrell’s Future Conservationists Programme.

Participants of all ages walked, wheeled or ran 2.5KM and 5KM around the marina, treading in the footsteps of professional triathletes and Olympians who had competed in the Super League Triathlon the day before. And while the Jersey skies didn’t quite match the blue t-shirts of the participants, the weather was a definite improvement from the high winds and rain at the event in 2019.

RBC Ambassador and local hero Ollie Turner, and Hayden Wilde, Olympic bronze medallist were just two of the triathletes that joined instructors from Strive Health Club to lead the runners through their warm-up and cheer them on when the racing kicked off.

This wasn’t the first time Ollie and Hayden had paired up, as they and Guernsey-based triathlete Josh Lewis were also guests of Jersey Zoo on Thursday afternoon to hear about Durrell’s Future Conservationists Programme from Alex Shears and Dr Lesley Dickie. The three athletes were given a tour of the facilities and learned more about how money donated from RBC Race for the Kids will be used to give  Jersey’s youth the much-needed opportunity to engage with a world-class conservation organisation and inspire them to take their place in leading the conservation movements of the future. Hayden, Josh and Ollie were also pleased to get up close and personal with some friendly Jersey Zoo residents!

RBC will shortly announce the final total raised for Durrell which will include a generous matching funds donation from the bank.

David Bailey, Chief Operating Officer at RBC Wealth Management in Jersey said of the event: “We were delighted to see another fantastic turnout for this year’s race. The Jersey community has always been incredibly supportive of the event, which brings people together while raising vital funds to support young people – a key charitable focus for RBC. It was great to see so many smiling faces and be able to put on the race after the challenges of the past 18 months, and I would like to thank the teams at Super League Triathlon and 3D Events who worked hard to make it happen in a safe and fun environment.”

Michael Dhulst, CEO of Super League Triathlon added: “It’s part of our DNA that we want to inspire people and that is why Super League is here. Working hand in hand with RBC to make Race for the Kids part of this weekend in Jersey is especially important and has the added benefit that we can do something great for a great local organisation.”