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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.”

Age Group athletes will be offered the chance to race like the pros as pre-registration opens for Super League Triathlon’s event in Jersey and the return of RBC Race for the Kids.

Both the Age Group races, which offer a choice of formats, and RBC Race for the Kids will take place on Sunday, September 19 – a day after the pros have raced the famous course in St Helier.

It means amateurs will have the opportunity to swim in the spectacular Elizabeth Marina, an area normally reserved for boats and only open for the pros to compete in.

To be notified as soon as entries open for Super League Age Group events – and to secure an exclusive discount – pre-register your interest via https://superleaguetriathlon.com/event/jersey21/#participate.

RBC, who are the official Community Partner of Super League Triathlon Jersey 2021, will donate an extra £5 to their chosen charity partner, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, for anybody who registers for RBC Race for the Kids before 31 July. To pre-register visit: https://superleaguetriathlon.com/event/jersey21/#rftk.

Super League’s age group offering will feature an option for either a sprint distance race of a 600m swim, 20km bike and 5km run, or the chance to tackle an Enduro, with two continuous rounds of swim-bike-run. Each swim is 300m, the bike 10km and the run 2.5km. Both formats can be entered as an individual or as a team.

The age group racing will be followed by the return of the hugely popular RBC Race for the Kids. More than 1 per cent of Jersey’s entire population participated in 2019 and even greater numbers are expected in 2021.

It offers the chance for the whole family, friends (and dogs) to walk, wheel or run 2.5km or 5km and raise money for RBC’s chosen charity partner Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, continuing to support Jersey’s youth through the Young Conservationists Programme.

Super League’s Age Group event in Jersey also comes with a COVID guarantee. If the decision is taken to postpone or cancel this year’s event then all participants will be able to:

• as a gesture of goodwill use a two week window to claim a refund(excluding ACTIVE Registration fee)
• Ordefer their entry to 2022 at no additional cost and with no action needed
• Or donatetheir fee directly to charity

Additionally, RBC will guarantee a full refund for all entrants of RBC Race for the Kids if the event has to be cancelled.

For more information visit https://superleaguetriathlon.com/event/jersey21/