Keeping intergenerational friendships alive during lockdown – The Award

For two and a half years, Gold Award participant Lauren, from New Zealand, has been reading to Shirley Macdonald who is blind. She would visit Shirley at her retirement village every Saturday. While it started as Voluntary Service for her Gold Award, the pair have formed a strong friendship. “Reading to Shirley has been an amazing part of my life,” Lauren said. COVID-19 and lockdown brought them closer.

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The European Commission and the world’s largest youth organizations, the “Big Six”, announced a partnership today to launch the EU Youth Empowerment Fund, to be implemented through the Global Youth Mobilization (GYM). It marks the first anniversary of the Youth Action Plan for EU External Action, the EU’s policy framework for a strategic partnership with young people to build a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable future.
A global movement that funds youth-led community projects across the world is aiming to expand its efforts. Led and implemented by young people across the world, Global Youth Mobilization (GYM) has been operational since December 2020 and already invested in schemes in 125 countries, with young people tackling issues such as the mental health of young people fleeing the war in Ukraine to child victims of sexual abuse in Zambia. Now they are seeking a further $15m over the next three years to expand the initiative.