I’ve been looking back over my blogs this week and realised I have never discussed the UK TV programme “Dragons’ Den.” The sixth series has just started on BBC 2 and for those unfamiliar with the concept the programme sees up and coming entrepreneurs and inventors pitching their ideas to a panel of rich investors in the hope of getting one or more of them to invest in to their idea.

I like this programme as it takes you the viewer through the process of pitching an idea and what the experience can be like. So as well as being entertaining it is also educational. It shows you how important your presentation skills are as it is not always the best business ideas that do well but the ones that are well presented normally fair well.

The first episode of the new series also linked in to my many blogs regarding the changing scene of the music industry. The episode saw Peter Jones invest £75,000 in to a band called Hamfatter who had come on to the show looking for money to produce their new album in return for giving away 20% of future profits from music sales. It was brilliant to see a music group go on a business programme and show a different route to success in the music industry. With not even having to have a physical CD in the shops to get in to the top 40 gone are the days where you need a record label to achieve success. With a good product, good promotion and money behind you, you can achieve great things in the music world. Following on from the show Hamfatter have been getting interviews and press coverage everywhere so not only was it a good financial decision but also great for PR.

I enjoy the show as it is very inspiring to see people who have nothing but an idea and a desire to take that idea to the next level putting themselves out there to achieve the next level of success. I think there is an inventor and entrepreneur inside of us all and I love seeing what people from across the UK have come up with and designed. With wages not going up in line cost of living on the whole being an entrepreneur is a way of escaping low salary jobs but with the credit crunch hitting the business world some would argue it is even harder to be an entrepreneur in today’s climate.

Dragons’ Den is a great programme to watch if you are thinking of starting up a business as it will give you some basic ideas and knowledge. Dragons’ Den also provides many talking points which are discussed the next day in work places, schools and the media. It’s good to see what other people thought of ideas and businesses to see if there was something you overlooked. Getting people talking about investment, inventions and enterprise is great and a lot better than people talking about shows like Big Brother and Eastenders.

Do you watch Dragons Den? What do you like about the show? Ever tempted to apply to go on? We want to know and you can share your views by joining in our topic of the week:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=506

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

This week saw the launch of one of our most important projects to date the Talented Young People – Youth Manifesto.

With teen crime making daily headline news and with many people at a loss to what to do to combat it we had to step in. We could no longer sit idly by waiting for someone else to try and solve the problem we had to act. No longer could we continue to debate the rights and wrongs of government policies or national laws. The time for debating is over the time for action is now.

This week the government seems to be focusing on what to do to punish and re-educate young people carrying or using knives. We however believe prevention is what is needed as if we keep on trying to cure the problem we may never solve the problem. The point of our Youth Manifesto is to encourage, inspire and motivate young people not to carry knives with them or feel the need to carry knives. We want to equip young people with the ability to achieve great things.

Another way in which our Youth Manifesto differs from others is that it’s not just aimed at young people it is aimed at all sectors of society with sections dedicated to many different sectors. For us to change this world we need to all work together and not leave it up to one sector to do all the work as this is not a problem that can be solved by one sector alone.

It’s not policies or funding which is going to solve the problem it’s everyday people working together, taking a stand and putting in action behind their words. If we all come together we can still have a huge impact on this earth we live on. It’s now our time to put the power back in our own hands.

To find out how you can get involved with the Youth Manifesto go to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/youthmanifesto

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

This month will see McFly trying to expand their fanbase by giving away their latest album for free through The Mail on Sunday through which they expect their album to reach three million homes in the UK. We have already seen the likes of Prince giving away his album through the Mail as well as Radiohead offering their album in exchange for a donation on the internet but it now looks like pop acts are getting in on the act.

As the way in which we consume music changes the industry needs to change with it so I am always interested to see what new and innovative ways companies and music acts are using to distribute music. However I feel that when a handful of acts start giving their music away for free and doing it in a mainstream way it affects the whole music industry. If one act can afford to give away their music for free then the general public start to think they should be able to get music from other acts for free and not paying for music becomes an acceptable activity.

Another problem which occurs when music is given away for free is that music becomes worthless. Music instead of being a saleable product it just becomes a form of advertising and promotion for a band to sell merchandise and tickets to live events. By making music worthless it becomes harder for the smaller acts to make money. The bigger acts benefit from doing it as they run live events at big indoor venues and make a lot of money from merchandise but small acts who only tour small venues need the income that record sales provide.

There needs to be systems and services put in place which can give people access to music at a reasonable price without having a negative affect on smaller acts. With the credit crunch how it is it is right for the music industry to react in a way that makes music more affordable but it is just a shame that crunch will probably affect how much money is invested in to new acts. I think new unsigned acts have to capitalise on their ability to produce music and promote it on the cheap thanks to new tools on the internet as record companies no longer have big budgets to establish artists with. That’s the one advantage for unsigned acts is that their music is cheaper to produce than a signed artist so they can afford to give away heir music more cheaply.

The internet has revolutionised the way in which we buy, watch and listen to music, TV and films we just need to make sure that the way in which we are consuming media is fair to the artists and the production companies. For some time I feel the industries have been to kind to the artists and not kind enough to the consumer in the way things have been priced and profits made but we need to make sure we don’t go in completely the other direction where it becomes unfair to the people creating media. As for us to have good quality entertainment we have to have people making it who are fairly paid.

What do you think about bands offering their music for free with newspapers or online? Does it make you less likely to pay for other music? And you think it is a positive thing for the music industry? Let us know by joining in our topic of the week by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=494

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

During my weekly media consuming I came across a new programme on a channel called “Fiver.” The programme was called “Living Lohan” which is a fly on the wall docu-soap / reality programme on Lindsay Lohan’s younger sister Ali. The programme follows Ali through her home life as she tries to make a career in the music business and this programme got me thinking for this week’s blog.

This is not the first programme of its kind and there have been many like it since the popularity of “The Osbournes” series. However when these shows were first used merely as entertainment c-list celebrities, washed up celebrities and relatives of celebrities are now appearing in their own reality programmes to promote an album or to try and get a career in an entertainment field. Music stars or wannabe music stars think instead of having to travel the country to promote themselves or an album they can just get a camera crew to follow their home life and it can be broadcast to the masses with little effort on their behalf.

The problem now comes that in order for a reality show to be successful and get a deal on a major network it has to be controversial and entertaining. This means that situations have to be created and aspects of their life manipulated in order to keep their audience happy which means they can start to lose control of their image and messages they are sending out in the hunt for TV ratings. This is where the lines of fiction and reality become blurred and where people who appear on these shows are left acting like they do when the cameras rolling when they aren’t. The pressure of a TV series which follows you around everyday has taken its toll on many families like the Hulk Hogan family from “Hogan Knows Best” I believe that if it wasn’t for their reality series then some of the problems and issues in their current lives could have been avoided.

I think these type of programmes are declining in popularity but because they are so cheap and easy to make there will be lots more to come especially on the random channels on Sky that seem to import anything from the US. I think viewers are now savvy to the ways in which these programmes are edited and filmed to make the show controversial and not a reflection of everyday life.

Now in balance there have been some fly on the wall programmes I have enjoyed which have followed by sporting teams, dance schools and other assorted groups. I just don’t enjoy programmes which over sensationalised and that are about celebrities or creating celebrities


Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

I was at home the other day and for the first time in ages turned on daytime TV for some background noise and happened upon a chat show that was discussing: Is Second Best? The argument put forward was whether having to deal with defeat or finishing in second at an early stage of your career more helpful in the long term than instant success? This got me thinking so I wanted to share my thoughts with you on this subject.

Personally I feel instant success can be detrimental to long term success. There are exceptions to this rule but on the whole the quicker success is achieved the shorter the success lasts. Finishing in second place or losing out to others in things like competitions, job interviews and auditions is a test of character. It is at this time where we find out if the thing we are pursuing is truly what we want to do with our life. When this happens we can either accept it and say that we aren’t good at something or we can actually be proactive and tell ourselves we want to be the best and work even harder to become better than the competition. The one thing we can’t do is keep going in to competitions, job interviews and auditions thinking we are the best when we are getting knock back after knock back just hoping that one day we will win something, you have to earn the right to call yourself the best and you do that by working hard and delivering the good when it matters.

Having to go through a period of finishing second makes us appreciate it more when we finally win as we know what it has taken to get there and we know the experience of finishing second all to well. It is also good to start by finishing second and then finishing first as it shows your development and progress whereas if you have finished first from the start it has harder to see how you have improved. To succeed in this world it’s not just your talent that will get you to the top as you also need a strong character to make it happen.

Without a strong work ethic and support success can be taken away as quickly as it is gained. Take TV talent contest winners like Hearsay, David Sneddon, Steve Brookstein etc All these guys were thrust in to the limelight after winning singing competitions just for them to have short term success followed by a fall from fame within a very short space of time. If you compare Hearsay to Liberty X who finished second in the Popstars series who went on to have more chart success or David Sneddon who finished first in Fame Academy and Lemar who finished third who again went on to achieve more chart success. Its not about the position you finish in it is what you do after the result that counts.

If you ask most successful people they will tell you tales of times where they didn’t get the part or win the competition. Just because you only see someone on the telly when they are famous don’t assume that happened over night and they won everything on the way to getting there.

So in summing up to me finishing second is best when you are developing your talent as it can teach you much more than winning ever can and when you are developing your talent it’s not success that is important, its learning which is the important part.

What do you think? Do you agree? Have you experienced finishing second? And has finishing second motivated you on to better things? Let us know by joining in our topic of the week by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=479

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

The credit crunch is hitting the world hard. Prices of everyday items are going up, prices for petrol are rising and so on and so on. I don’t want to look at this from the affect this has on the economy or the general public, I want to look at this from the affect that it has on young people achieving their dreams.

When there is a global credit crunch the government have less money to invest in youth related projects. A big source of income for the government is based on the spending of the general public and when they aren’t spending it hurts the economy which the government have to support. Unfortunately funding and spending on youth projects is way down the list of priorities when governments do budgets so this means that youth projects supported by the government or by other funding bodies disappear or run a smaller service due to the lack of money. These youth services could be anything from art to sport projects.

Then we have youth charities which rely on donations to keep running. During a global credit crunch the public have less money so their income from donations dwindles and again affects the way in which they can operate. Similar to this we have youth organisations which require their members or the families of their members to pay a fee or a subscription to keep the organisation going. Because these organisations rely so heavily on subscriptions the inability of just a couple of families to pay fees could make a huge difference to the service they provide. The costs of running youth organisations are going up but because of the situation of their members many youth organisations can’t raise their fees.

We also have to look closer to home. If the family budget is tighter with more money spent on everyday things it means there is less money for parents to spend to help their children reach their dreams. This could be anything like buying a new pair of football boots, taking a child to an audition or paying for a child to attend a club.

In these times it is stories like that of George Sampson who won ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ become more common place. George performed dance routines on the streets of Manchester to raise money to put petrol in his parents car to get to shows and auditions because his family couldn’t afford to take him otherwise. Then in one night his life changed as he won £100,000 to help his mum pay her mortgage.

George wasn’t the first person to fight through financial adversity to achieve their dreams and won’t be the last. Young people and their families need to now be more creative with their thoughts and ideas and need to do more research on how they can help their young child to achieve their dreams on a shoestring budget as believe you me there are ways and it can be easily done. Buying someone the best guitar doesn’t make them the best guitarist. If you have talent and can find a way of showcasing it then you have a great chance of achieving greatness no matter what your financial situation is.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Many countries across Europe are currently enjoying following their national football teams in Euro 2008 where us English people have to watch other countries enjoying the party whilst wishing we were there as every game gets screened live on terrestrial TV.

When England failed to qualify the national board the FA promised a what they were calling a root and branch investigation to get to the bottom of our nation’s failures over recent years to compete on the worldwide stage as well as the current lack of English born players currently plying their trade in the Premier League.

As many of you are aware I am actively involved in youth football in my local area so I was interested to see what changes if any were going to be made at grassroot level. So now months on from that investigation and I receive some news via local channels on new rulings from the national FA board.

For year’s professional football clubs and county organisations have ran academies. This is where they select the best players from the area to get trained by them and use their facilities whilst competing in a fixture programme against other academies. For girls football it use to be that girls could play for an academy side whilst still playing for their local youth side but now the FA are soon to either vote on or pass a regulation saying that if they play for an academy they can no longer player for their local youth side.

Now this may work in big cities where they have a wealth of players but when you are in a small region which is only just emerging with a handful of local youth teams with some of those teams struggling to get enough players for a full side an academy could kill the development of girls football dead in that area. The fifteen or so girls you have in the academy could turn in to great players but after they have gone through their will be no other players coming through as there will be no leagues for them to play in. To improve girls football there has to be access for all.

Instead of taking the easy option of just working with a select group of players if county organisations and professional teams could invest time in setting up good local leagues for girls it will give more players access to football and a lot better in the long term. Having a competitive league of ten teams would see a minimum of seventy girls playing football on a weekly basis which is nearly five times the amount that would be catered for by the academy.

If local youth teams get their best talent cherrypicked by academies then are they going to bother continuing without them? If this is the case what if that player gets let go by the academy half way through the season and she comes back and she has no club to play for? By taking one player from a team could spoil football for many girls. Young people become better players by playing with and against good football players.

So there you go that’s my rant of the week have you guys experienced situations like this where national organisations have passed down rulings which don’t help at local level? We want to know and you can share your views by going to our topic of the week:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=470

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Did you stay in all last week to watch Britain’s Got talent? If you have been watching the series then you will already know about some of the amazing talented youngsters we have in this country. However this week I am not dedicating the blog to the winner George Sampson who I personally thought was amazing but an act that made me proud to be Cornish that being beaten Semi Finalists the dance act known as Flava.

In a society that puts young people across as a group of self obsessed wannabes who want to have everything but not put in the hard work to get it Flava were a breath of fresh air. As everyone else on Britain’s got Talent were pushing stories of personal hardship, pleading for votes or support and then getting upset about any negative comments or crying when they found out they hadn’t made it Flava stood out as a shining example of how young people should behave.

When young people are trying to make it in the world of sport and entertainment they are normally pushed to be as competitive as possible, to only care about themselves and to beat all competition at any costs. Flava showed that to get to the top you don’t need any of these characteristics, you just need to be dedicated to your talent and they showed that being a good role model can get you further than trying to stomp on all the competition to get to the top.

In a self obsessed world it was great to see them celebrate with “The Cheeky Monkeys” the young children that the judges put through ahead of them and to then lend their support to acts like “Signature.” When you are in the public eye like they have been they have showed that getting ahead in life is not all about winning competitions as I know they have now had many offers to go and perform for and work with many different organisations because of their performance on the shows. If you compare their behaviour to fellow semi finalist act ‘Per Diem’ who basically threw a tantrum after receiving negative feedback and then you start thinking “I bet they didn’t get many offers for work after the show.” This thought wasn’t based on their performance as they were both talented musicians but it was a prime example of how not to act when receiving feedback and to do that on national TV is career suicide.

When young people enter shows like this they have to remember that only one act can win so if it isn’t them that win they have to make sure that they get the best out of their appearance and put themselves in the best position to get work out of their appearance. Young people also need to be aware of the lives that their performances and actions on TV shows like this can have on young viewers and the power they have to inspire and motivate young viewers.

I wished that Flava were given the chance to perform in the final but by losing in the semi-finals it gave them a chance to show the world how inspirational they are as young people in the way they took defeat and they showed how you can turn defeat in to victory.

I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Flava.


Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Does anything really change? Last week it was discussed in the news whether funding for youth related projects and schemes had actually made a noticeable or quantifiable improvement to the lives of young people or not.

It is hard when you read the headlines over the weekend of murdered teenagers to actually imagine that funding is helping but how do you gauge the national and overall success of a project when you have stories like this to contend with?

No matter how much good is done the news outlets will always highlight sensational and extreme news of the minority of young people committing crime. This will in turn lead people in to thinking that this is what young people are up to across the country.

Although we all hate figures, statistics and having to measure success I think in some cases it is needed. If you as a government are going to invest millions of taxpayers pounds they have to know they are getting a return for their money. It is hard to stop extreme cases like we have seen on the weekend but what needs to be done is to make sure that these stay isolated and minority events, it is when these incidents become the norm is when we have failed. One teenager dieing is far too many but you can’t stop wanting to better or to improve things as we only lose when we stop trying

These events need to remind us that no young person is safe and we all need to be doing are all to make sure every young person leads a safe life. We can’t rely on funding or education to solve the problems we all need to take an active role within our communities to make sure we are all safe.

When every young person has the same access to funding, education and support is when we will be able to judge change properly and see real change on a national basis. Success with young people is only temporary and we can never afford to forget it. That is why we need continual funding and continual monitoring for the improvement of young lives in the UK. Just because a project has been successful for a young person and changed their life it doesn’t necessarily mean that if support was pulled away that they would continue to be a success.

It may seem like nothing changes but it is a much better world than if funding and support was to be taken away from youth projects and programmes. Just remember that just because you may be reading the same headlines every year it doesn’t mean change isn’t being made or happening.

Do you think anything is changing in regards to the success of support for youth related projects and programme? We here at Talented Young People would love to know your views and you can share them by joining in our topic of the week by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=457

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

As you are all aware there was no blog last week because I was away on my travels to work in Israel for the week. Hope it has been a productive fortnight for you since my last blog. My experiences over the last week are the topic of this week’s blog and the topic is what travelling can do for your personal development.

In a world which is getting smaller and smaller by the minute where we have the ability to interact with, do business with and find out about people from other countries we can’t afford to lose our want to travel. You can learn a lot from your bedroom but the most important learning comes from experience which you can only get from actually going to another country.

By visiting another country you can find out about how people of a similar age to you act and behave. You can also find out about their attitudes and the standard of their education. It is interesting to see how young people who have more or less opportunities and support than you do cope with their own personal development. You can take bit from their approach to life which you can bring back home with you and sew in to your life to improve your self development.

One thing I noticed from my trip to Israel was that a high percentage of the population spoke both the native language of Hebrew as well as English fluently whereas in England there is only a small percentage of the population can speak two or more languages fluently.

By visiting foreign countries we have never been to or by going to countries in which we don’t speak the native language it gives us a sense of adventure. Putting ourselves in these situations challenges our problem solving skills which is a good skill to test but if you do plan on doing something like this be sure to do your research and to keep safe. To succeed in life we need to encourage our adventurous side.

Visiting other countries can give you inspiration. Seeing a famous landmark, beautiful scenery or experiencing something different that you can’t do or see back at home can be very inspirational. It can spark the inspiration to try something new when you get back home or to do better in things you already do.

And finally an important thing travelling does is build memories. Memories are a strong emotional factor which can help you achieve great things. The way you create memories is by trying new things and experiencing things you never normally would in a regular day.

So if you get the chance to broaden your horizons and go and experience new places you never know where it could lead.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

In this week’s blog I wanted to address a topic that I haven’t addressed yet but a topic I find myself discussing on a regular basis which is ‘Pushy Parents.’ With the financial rewards for success getting even bigger and bigger and with more young people in the media spotlight is it creating more pushy parents?

For many years pushy parents have been associated with child models and child actors but now it seems there are Pushy Parents who are pushing their children to success in all manner of activities. Not only now is there great financial reward for success but social kudos for parents for having successful children and in some cases stigma around parents whose children don’t succeed as we as a society become more interested in what everyone else is doing and keeping up with the Jones.

With the media interrogation in to the lives of young celebrities their parents are becoming publicly known for their position as the parent of and have their lives interrogated. This has been highlighted by TV series like True Hollywood Stories and the tabloid press who need a story like a pushy parent to get viewers and even young celebrities are now getting in on the act by selling stories on their own parents to get media attention.

I think Pushy Parents still exist today but I also feel that now because young people are getting exposed to media earlier and because their interaction with media is more intense that they are pushing for stardom and success themselves and not because of their parents. Young people see programmes like Hannah Montana and High School Musical and see the popularity that the actors and actresses have and want that for themselves. Young people are now also more aware than ever before of the levels of income these young people make.

I feel that parents should encourage, motivate and push their children to succeed but in areas that their children want to succeed in not the areas they want their children to go in to. Children need the freedom to find their own dream and then the support of their family to make it a reality. Regardless of how high or low the financial reward for their dream job would be parents need to worry about how happy their child is going to be in later life not how much money they are going to earn. Too many parents try and live their dreams through their children using them as if they were puppets instead of loving them for the individual that they are. Helping your child to live their dreams and not to live yours is an achievement to be proud of which means a million times more than them living out your dreams.

So be a Pushy Parent but not in the way we think of when we think of Pushy Parents. Push your children to be as happy and fulfilled as they can be. Give them belief, give them strength and give them support to achieve their dreams as you the parent have such an important part to play in your child’s development and hard work now can help secure happiness and fulfilment for your child for life. Don’t let your chance to create a great life for your child go to waste. Being a Pushy Parent in the old sense of the term can do so much damage to your child that may never be repaired. Just because they may be seen as successful or a celebrity by the general public or just because they have lots of money it doesn’t mean they are happy or fulfilled. Some of the most so called successful people in the world are some of the most unhappiest. So help your child to be the most happiest and fulfilled they can be as to me that is the mark of success.

Have you got an opinion on ‘Pushy Parents’? Then you can share your views by joining in our topic of the week by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=443

Just as a heads up there will be no blog this week so our next blog will be published on the 21st of May.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

This week in the news it has been reported that in the region of 500 schools are having their after school club budgets cut in Northern Ireland.

Now due to the financial situation of the UK and the changes in society with higher numbers of single parent families the importance and demand of these clubs is much higher. Many families cannot afford the rising cost of childcare and cannot afford to clock off work early and lose hours of paid work.

On top of this we have national rises in the level of youth related crime with many people and organisations crying out for better facilities for young people to keep them off the street. This is why I think it is a sad day when things like this happen and cutting their budgets is a very short sighted idea as the money saved by this could be lost in the rise of youth crime, the change in the financial situation of many homes and parents contributing less working hours in a week which through rising taxation pumps money back in to the government.

I think after school clubs can play a vital role in a child’s development and should be used by children regardless of if they did have someone at home who could look after them. After school clubs provide great learning environments for young people as it gives them freedom to learn more about what interests them in a less formal setting. These clubs also give young people chance to do their homework and catch up with work without all the noise and distractions they have at home so they can reduce a better high quality result or piece of work to hand in.

It’s not just on the education side that clubs help young people as there are also many sporting clubs which are great for helping keep our nation of young people healthy and save the NHS on time and resources. Sporting clubs also help young people with key things like team work. After school clubs also help broaden young peoples social skills and circle as they get to interact with people they may not be in classes with and form strong bonds with a good group of friends.

I think anything that keeps young people away from the TV and the video games whilst giving them a safe and controlled environment to develop and grow should be commended and not have their budgets taken away.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

In the UK millions of people are getting caught up in the second series of Britain’s Got Talent. After a successful first series and after the concept being sold to TV networks across the globe the UK’s thirst for TV talent shows still remains. For those that don’t know anything about the show it’s a talent competition with the winner getting the chance to perform in front of royalty at The Royal Variety Show (wonder what winners in other countries win?)

The series has got me thinking and has been a subject of many conversations I have been having recently. The show brings up the question of what is talent? The show has no limits and is just about people performing in front of the judges which has meant we have seen some weird and wacky people and talents on display from people breaking things over other peoples bodies to people re-enacting theatre whilst using a bouncy castle as their stage.

The next question it raises is what level or standard do you have to be at something to be considered talented? Many people have claimed to be able to say what talent is and what standard you have to be at to be considered talented but I don’t think it’s that simple as talent is something very subjective.

I think it’s hard in a show like this to say who is the most talented as I think you can only say who is the best performer. Contestants only get a minute or so to perform one act to the judges in order to progress to the next round. With this set up I think it is possible for people who may not be so-called talented but who are able to perform brilliantly to give that illusion. It’s like someone may not be a great singer but can perfect one song which they have been working on for years and go in and impress the judges.

The show as well as showcasing the best of our country also promotes the worst side of our society by encouraging the live audience to boo off any act they don’t like. It’s like a pack, one starts jeering and they all join in getting some pleasure out of watching someone break down or go off stage. In this country people seem to be ridiculed for being different or standing out for actually having the guts to try something. I have got a lot of respect for anyone that goes on shows like this and gives it a go as it is not the easiest thing to do.

So going back to what is talent? To me talent is something that people dedicate themselves to and show that they can do better or different than other people and who are always improving and wanting to improve.

Have you got on opinion on what talent is? Then why not get involved in our topic of the week and give us your thoughts by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=428

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

This week I wanted to talk about being an underdog. If you are a football fan you will be very aware of underdogs as this season it has been the year for the underdog with many lower league teams beating Premiership opposition to make the later stages of the FA Cup. In my opinion the greatest underdog achievement though came last weekend as my team Queen of the South from the Scottish First Division made history by reaching their first ever cup final by beating Aberdeen 4 – 3 in a thrilling semi.

An underdog is someone or a team that people don’t think will win or succeed against their opposition. It’s not just in sport where you get underdogs but in everyday life. It’s like when some young people are written off from achieving anything because of their background or the area they live in, they then become underdogs to achieve as few people believe in them.

Being an underdog isn’t necessarily a bad thing as when you are an underdog nobody expects you to win so you don’t have their added pressure on your shoulders. You can go out and do what you want to do in your own style or way. The only time when being an underdog is bad is when you start believing what everyone else thinks and start believing that because you are the underdog you can’t win or achieve.

Being an underdog just means you need to try harder than the rest and always do everything with 110% effort. That to me is why being an underdog at times is so great as in that position you know you have to give it your all where as people who are so called favourites or likely to succeed don’t always have that same drive or concentration as they think you will be easy to beat.

The greatest achievements in life are those that were hard to achieve and required real effort. When an underdog wins it means more to them than a favourite as they had to work harder and in the process shown people just what they are capable of. The minute we start thinking we are going to win everything and achieve in everything is the moment we will probably fail as you can never take success for granted.

Never be put off by the underdog tag as it’s not what others think of you that counts it’s your belief in your ability that does. If you are labelled an underdog use it to your advantage, use it to give you drive to succeed and let your opponents think like that as it will make them easier to beat.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

The BBC news website reported two news stories on the subject of career advice and chosen careers which got me thinking:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7323033.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7318919.stm

Now I can’t say I am shocked by these findings as I have thought this for some time and it’s quite funny how these stories which are so related came out in the same week. I believe that career advice has been inadequate for some time and big changes need to be made if we are going to get young people in to the right careers and get unemployment levels down.

The education system seems to have a one size fits all approach with students forced to become jack of all trades and master of none in a race to look good in the school league tables. The only thing schools get graded on are exam grades and not what careers their students go in to so the only thing they are interested in is there results. Until schools get graded or rewarded based on what careers their students go in to they aren’t going to invest time in proper career advice and nor should they have to if they aren’t getting the right reward for it.

Employers are looking for young people who are highly skilled and educated in specific areas not people who are moderately skilled in many areas. Young people aren’t informed about this at school though or told enough about what qualifications you need for certain jobs. This is the information young people need to be equipped with to get ahead in the market place but the school system keeps them in the dark with the blinkers on in order to make sure they try their best at all subjects so they can get highest league table place possible. If young people were armed with this information they probably wouldn’t try as hard at the subjects they didn’t need but improve vastly in the areas that were linked to their career choice.

Yes young people need to be able to be flexible and adapt in this ever changing world so need as many skills as possible but they also need to have strong skills in the areas they want to work in. The other information young people need is to be told how much certain jobs pay and how accessible these jobs are in the local area as it may be a young person is investing time getting ready for an occupation which may not pay enough to support them or may not be available locally. Young people need to be made more aware of the work place and schools need to devote time to career studies on a regular basis. Every pupil at school should have to go to career advice mandatory and career advice shouldn’t be something that is optional and hidden away.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

I’d Do Anything is a line normally used by people who want to get something or achieve something but I am not talking about that in this weeks blog. Of course I am referring to it as the line from Oliver and the title of the new BBC Saturday night talent search programme which if you live in the UK you will have probably heard something about or seen some of the shows.

The series is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s third attempt to find a star of his latest musical production after two successful runs finding talent for The Sound of Music and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. This time he is looking for people to fill the two roles of Oliver and Nancy in Oliver The Musical. This series is different to previous years as they are looking to fill two roles instead of one but the big twist this year is that the competition for the first time has been opened up to children in order to fill the role of Oliver.

Last year X-Factor lowered their minimum age to 14 to audition and now with this series it raises the question of should young children be allowed to participate in TV talent programmes? I know this isn’t the first time children have been allowed on talent shows as many years ago it was common place on shows like New Faces and Opportunity Knocks as well as the American Star Search.

Talent shows use to have much higher viewing ratings back in the early days of this programme genre but many of these episodes featuring young people have been forgotten, lost or not easily accessible. This isn’t the case any more as although these type of shows are viewed by less people they can now be posted on sites like YouTube for people to watch, comment on and save for years to come. Add to this the celebrity / paparazzi culture we live in with thousands of news reports happening around the globe on just one episode of a TV show adds to the crazy amount of pressure put on the young people featuring in these programmes.

The bosses in charge of I’d Do Anything have made the step to not have the young aspiring Oliver’s up for a weekly public vote and for their fate to rest solely with the judges. Now I’m all for young people being given the chance to display their talents and get recognition for their achievements but this shouldn’t be done in a situation which puts young people at the risk of happenings that hinder their progress or development towards their full potential.

On the flip side I do believe that young people need to be challenged and learn how to deal with pressurised situations, I am not in favour of a world where there is no competition. So in my personal opinion I don’t think there is a one size fits all answer to the question of whether young people should be allowed on TV talent shows. I think decisions on whether young people or a young person should be allowed to go on a TV talent done on a case by case basis with the young persons needs put first and not the needs of a TV show that needs to get ratings.

What are your thoughts on this issue? Do you agree with young people being scrutinised by judges and the public in TV talent contests? Should there be a minimum age limit? Let us know you thoughts by joining in our topic of the week by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=404

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Last weekend I was lucky enough to go and see Kelly Clarkson in concert at my local music venue. Now for those of you who don’t know who she is she was the winner of the first series of American Idol and has since gone on to produce three albums winning many awards in the process. Now Kelly Clarkson may not be your scene but the whole experience of going to live events go me thinking.

Now we all have our favourite artists when it comes to music who we enjoy listening to or in my case singing along to, on top of this many of us are inspired by our favourite artists through their music and their personality. For me though there is nothing more inspiring than going to see someone perform live. Actually seeing someone with our own two eyes in the flesh and listening to them performing live creates strong emotions, feelings and memories which can’t be created by listening to them on CD or on the Radio.

I am a highly motivated person and I don’t need concerts or famous people to inspire me but I always come out of live events like these feeling even more inspired than when I went in. I am sure many people share this feeling after they come out of the event but the problem is for most of them that it is short lived and they don’t harness the inspiration. I wish everyone could get the chance to go to live events like concerts and get these experiences as an event like a concert is such a tangible way to show someone what can be achieved through hard work. If you see an artist have a CD in the shops you notice it but when you are at a concert you can see first hand how people react to them and you can feel their success.

This is the same for other live events like theatre and sports. Whatever it is you follow or whatever it is you enjoy watching or listening to there is nothing like the live experience. It’s at these events where celebrities and professionals get to be the most inspiring and where they probably inspire the most amount of people who actually go and do something with that inspiration. These events are especially inspiring if you don’t go to gigs all the time or don’t go to a football match every week, it is a more memorable and special night if you have had to wait for or save up to go and see something you really want to see.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

It’s a big year for sport this year with the Olympics this summer as well as other big events like the football European Championships. Sports are making big headlines at the moment with the Formula 1 season kicking off the last weekend and the upcoming climax of the premiership football season.

This week there was some great news for young up and coming football players (or soccer players as otherwise known) in England as the FA announced plans to pump two hundred million pounds in to grassroots football. Many organisations and government parties have promised ideas like this for many years but now finally the FA are making a heavy financial investment.

After much time spent working and playing in the football community I am all too aware of the problems that exist. Young people need safe and proper facilities and staff in order to help their development. However in my time spent in youth football I have seen a huge range of standards of facilities with any clubs not having any facilities at all and just a pitch to play on.

Money needs to be invested in facilities and the education of coaches, staff and volunteers associated with football clubs. So many clubs are run by parents or adults who have had no access to training. If we can raise the quality of coaching staff we will raise the quality of players being produced. However the cost of courses are putting many people off as individuals and clubs can’t justify paying for the courses with so many other outgoings.

As well as training players to be the best they can be the FA need to encourage young people in to other career routes which can get you in to football. We need more young coaches, more young referees, more young groundsmen and more young first aiders. Not every young football player is going to go and play football for a living but if you can teach them more skills and show them different experiences it may help them make a career out of football.

This year with all the sport going on there is a great opportunity to us these sporting events to help tackle obesity and to help create a fitter and healthier nation and football is one of the many sports we can use to do that. As shown by Sports Relief on BBC last week you can do great things through sport and sport has a great power to change lives we just need to use it right.

To have your say on sports funding join in our topic of the week on the forums by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=389

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Hi Guys

Just to let you know after a brief period offline due to issues with our server we are now back online and fully functional.

The Talented Young People team

www.talentedyoungpeople.com

Over the last couple of weeks the news that has been revolving around the educational world and some of then national headlines has been the selection process of parents selecting a school for their child. According to news today one in five parents didn’t get their child in to their first choice school. Now I know every parent wants the best for their child but my parents never got the chance to select my school, I just went to my nearest school and got a quite adequate education.

When did this first come in to place that parents could choose? I am all for parents taking an active role in their child’s development but the question I have is how can someone know where a child is going to learn and develop the best? Yes you can look at schools and see which have the best facilities and which fair the best in league tables but there may be schools which have less facilities or that don’t fair so highly in league tables but are more suited for your child’s development. It may be at a school lower down the league table that there may be an inspirational teacher that gets your child enthused in a subject or they may learn more by having to make do with not the best text books or equipment.

On top of all of this there are other factors which aren’t measurable like the development of personal and social skills which happen at schools. Going to school is not just about grades it is about developing and growing as a person who is ready for the world after school. Like I have had said in previous blogs a more important and measurable league table for schools would be to compare every school on what jobs their pupils ending up going to do after they finished education.

Now I’m not judging parents here who have to place their children at schools which aren’t their nearest because their nearest is full. Remember though if you do send your child to a school further away when there are local schools available you have to factor in the lost time through travelling that may affect their ability to perform and develop as well as the affects that moving them out of their social circle and putting them in to a new one will have whether positive or negative.

If each child had to go to their nearest school it would in my opinion improve the overall standard of schools and remove elitism in education and in society. Some of the world’s greatest world changers went to some of the most so called deprived schools. A pupil shouldn’t be judged by the school that they go to but on their own abilities. It’s like with league tables parents put so much importance on looking at the league table which encompasses every student at the school when really they are and should only be worried about their child’s education not everyone else’s.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

The last two years has seen an explosion of social networking activity on the Internet. With websites like MySpace, Bebo and Facebook attracting millions of users who log on each day to check their profiles, upload photos and talk with their friends.

Over recent weeks Facebook has reported in a downturn in activity on their website and it is lead to people claiming “Facebook Fatigue.” With so much hype about Facebook and so much to do on their websites with millions of applications that you can download or get invited to take part in people are now starting to get bored of their product or are starting to use it in a less active way.

I think social networking has its good points and its bad points. I think social networking websites are great for developing confidence and networking skills as well as sharing information and getting back in touch with old friends. However instead of using social networking as a tool and part of your life people over the last couple of years have let social networking become their life with a high percentage of their daily interaction with other people happening through social networking and not real life. Some users have not been able to go five minutes without checking their profile to see who has commented or left them a message it has become like an addiction and a way for people to waste time.

The biggest concern I have with social networking is the security implications of using them. if used sensibly and run sensibly these sites can be safe places but with so much information being posted and made freely available to the general public it is now becoming too easy for people who you wouldn’t want getting your information getting hold of it. Also on the security side it is now all to easy to set up an account in which the user can pretend to be someone they are not in order to engage in criminal activity.

I think social networking can help make your social life more efficient but this is if only used correctly and as a tool. I think that social networking needs to be made a lot safer before I would encourage children to use it as at the moment there are too many dangers. Regardless of how many good points there are if there is one small danger to young people I would not recommend it.

Social Networking is now big business with Facebook, Bebo and MySpace all making millions of pounds each year so there are always going to be new companies trying to break the market so like Facebook has grown over the last year I’m sure next year there could be a new major player.

As well as the companies that provide social networking not getting complacent companies that market through social networking or have social networking pages also have to guard against compliancy. Social networking pages are a great publicity tool but you have to make sure you are getting the most out of your page and providing a service that your viewers want. Also social networking is great for young bands as they can now have their own page for free which can easily be updated and that they can drive viewers to which is another way it can be used for good reasons.

So overall I say yes there is a place for social networking but don’t let it rule your life. Customize the experience to suit your needs.

To share your thoughts on social networking come and check out our topic of the week on our forums by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=375

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

February seems to be awards month with many awards evenings, events and presentations taking place. If you live in the UK you will have been aware of the Brit Awards which recognises musical talent in the UK and if you live in the US you would have been aware of the Oscars event which recognises talent in the film industry.

Now award shows are great especially when it is you that is getting an award. Watching awards is also fun if you follow the industry in which the awards are taking place as you always have your own personal favourites that you think should or should have won.

The one problem I have with awards is that in many award shows you never know what actually happened for that person act or piece of media to get the award. They say things like judges or the board voted but you are always left wondering if an act deserved to win or if politics, personal agendas or power struggles behind the scene had anything to do with it. That is why I prefer awards that are decided by the fans. It is the fans that put the money in to an industry and keep it going and they are the ones that are important. Films and music are made to attract an audience so it is the general public who should be the judge.

The thing that got me thinking was that in an arts and entertainment world how do you decide who should win an award how do you work out who the best actor / singer is or what the best film is. In sporting competitions its easy to see who the best is as they can compete against each other and the result is dependant on their own performance not influenced by other people. In arts and entertainment you can work out who the most popular artists or films are by sales but how can you say who is the best? It is all subjective as different people like different things so to have awards which are best this or best that I think are wrong as really they are just the people who the judges liked the most.

Here is another thought if someone is more popular than another does it mean they are more talented than less popular artists? If this is true are the most talented people already established artists or are there a horde of people more talented than popular acts who nobody knows about?

To share your thoughts on awards or awards ceremonies join in our topic of the week by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=366

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

If you live in the UK you will be aware of the current situation in Wales, which is grabbing the headlines where twenty-one young people have died of suspected suicide in the last year. The people of Britain and the police have been left scratching their heads to what the reason could be for so many young people taking their lives.

One suicide a year is unacceptable so to lose twenty-one young lives is a tragedy. Now the Police may be doing their bit but to work out why these tragedies occurred but it is up to the people of the UK to do more to make sure their deaths were not in vain.

Teenagers need more support than they are getting. During your teenage years you are asked to deal with emotions and experiences, which you aren’t ready to deal with, and it can be one of the most frightening and scary times of your entire life. During this period you build your emotional strength, character and identity which will stay with you for the rest of your life. More needs to be done to help young people during this important time of their life as without the support they may not be able to make the most of their potential and end up being a problem for society or causing us tax payers money in their adult life.

If you are a young person and you are having problems dealing with life the thing to remember is that you are not on your own, many other young people will be feeling the same as you but suicide is not the answer. If you are depressed or having problems dealing with life talk to someone about it don’t deal with it by yourself. You are a much stronger person for talking about your problems than keeping them bottled up inside.

Many people are blaming the media coverage and social networking websites for this crazy number of suspected suicides. Yes the media and social networking websites need to be monitored and need to think about messages they are sending out but parents, friends, carer, teachers etc. need to play a more active role in the lives of young people. Adults like parents and carers need to talk to young people about issues affecting them or websites they may visit as well as noting any attitude changes or changes in character. Every young person is important and individual and we need to start treating them as such. Every young person is at risk and we all need to look out for each other.

Our thoughts here at Talented Young people go out to all of those who have been affected by these tragedies and we are saddened by the loss of twenty-one young people who could have helped changed this world for the better and achieved many great things.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

In what was tipped to be the biggest film awards night of the year before the Writers Guild of America called an end to their strike this week to safeguard the Oscars Ceremony the BAFTA’s took place last weekend.

Now for those of you who don’t know BAFTA stands for British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Now I am all for awarding and celebrating talent, brilliance and creativity but my problem with these awards is that there were only a few British nominations in the main categories and even fewer British winners.

In today’s world we need to continue to improve cohesion and links between countries but that doesn’t mean we should promote those other countries talent before promoting our own talent. The American awards evening the Oscars promote American film talent before any other country so why can’t we do the same with British film talent in Britain. Yes by all means have an international category but more needs to be done to promote home grown talent with more categories that are strictly for British talent.

The one problem at the moment is that many films are being branded or referred to as British like Bourne Ultimatum, Harry Potter and James Bond when they are funded, directed or produced by American companies or talent. Now I know American film houses have the money and the power in the international film market which isn’t going to change but I feel British film is at an important stage where it needs to keep a foothold in the film market.

To get public interest in an awards ceremony and to have a fair representation of the last year in the film industry you have to involve the American film scene but more needs to be done to make sure these awards are used to promote British film and it not just being remembered and talked about for the American winners. The one reason I am in favour of American films and actors being recognised at the awards is if it inspires a young British viewer of the awards ceremony to get involved in film which will end up helping the British film scene in the long run.

Like I mentioned earlier the Writers Guild of America this week have come to an agreement to end their strikes. This is great news for film professionals or young people trying to get in to film as people can now start going back to work. The strike was also good for talented young writers as there is now even greater financial stability and incentives to work in the industry. Now I know we are British but like I have commented on with America having so much control if you want to become a film writer there is a good chance you will end up working with an American company at some point.

One thing that is for sure is that with the strikes and awards ceremonies the film industry is the most talked about industry in entertainment which is hopefully getting young people interested and inspired to work in the industry.

What did you think of the BAFTA’s? We here at Talented Young People want to know and you can share your thoughts by visiting our topic of the week by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=351

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

This week I am addressing a hot topic which over the last year I have found myself in many long conversations talking about and discussing this being what is more important to have in order to get a job experience or qualifications?

With the rise in number of people attending university and completing Degrees it seems that some of the shine have been taken off them especially now that you can get a degree in any thing from Surfing to David Beckham. No longer is university just for the financial and social elite.

Getting a job and doing well at a job interview is all about standing out from the crowd and being better than the other candidates so now with degrees being common place it seems a degree alone will not cut it in the workplace. Many job adverts are now asking for a minimum of three years work experience in the desired field before they will consider you.

Now you say how can I get the experience when I am at university? This is a true point so this is why you need to know before you go to university what career you want to work in and what is the best path to get you there. Many university students just go to university as they don’t know what else to do but if you can go in knowing what you want to do it is a big advantage.

Another thing to remember is that after you have finished your degree you may not be able to walk straight in to a high paying graduate job. You may have to take a lower salary than you were expecting in order to build up experience. It is only with both experience and a degree that you will eventually get those higher paid management level jobs.

Many of my friends who are now in highly skilled professions didn’t go to university they forged their own careers going straight from school or college to gain hands on experience and work their way up the ranks so they got a three year head start on all us university students.

Employers are now more interested in your ability to do the job not what you have learnt in a classroom. I went to university and am proud of my university education but I don’t think there is a one size fits all policy when it comes to life after school or college. You need to research the industry you want to get in to and find the best route for you to get where you need to go regardless of whether that is on the job experience or class room learning.

Although people may laugh at McDonalds for now offering qualifications and study programmes for young people I think we need more big organisations like this giving vocational courses as I feel it will improve the speed in which school leavers find work in their chosen field and leave less people unemployed. For many years people have looked down at vocational courses but I think courses which mix learning and work place experience are the way to go and that universities could learn a lot from this approach instead of holding on to their old and tested methods.

We want to know what you think is more important experience or qualifications? You can share your views by joining in our discussion topic of the week by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=342

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com