The winners of the Columban Missionaries’ ‘Changemaker’ media competition have been announced. Young people aged 13 to 18 years old from around the UK were invited to submit articles and images exploring the subject: ‘Anyone can make a difference: 21st Century Changemakers’. Inspired by Catholic Social Teaching, young people were encouraged to reflect on who in the world today is doing something about inequality, injustice, exclusion and environmental degradation, and what can they teach us about our own situations.
The Columbans received hundreds of submissions which were judged by a panel including Ruth Gledhill (Multi-Media Editor at The Tablet), Josephine Siedlecka (Founder and Editor of Independent Catholic News), Daisy Srblin, (CEO of Million Minutes) and James Trewby (Columban Education Worker).
Reflecting on her reading of the images and articles from the competition, Daisy said: ‘It’s clear that young people have a real appreciation for the world’s changemakers, and it is wonderful to see their thoughtfulness and reflection around themes including racial justice, gender equality, LGBTQ+ justice and climate justice, all inspired by the values of Catholic Social Teaching’.
Elijah Gilbert of Richard Challoner School, New Malden won first prize in the images section for his collage of people of inspiration. Second place went to Katherine Fawole of St Paul’s Academy in London for her Gouache painting of Greta Thunberg. Oliver Lafite of Richard Challoner School and Paulette De Jose of Holy Cross School in New Malden came joint third, for their depictions of Marcus Rashford and Amanda Gorman (racial justice activist) / Molly Burhans (environmental activist) / Jamie Margolin (LGBTQ+ rights activist)/ Jaclyn Friedman (feminist campaigner) respectively.
Have a look at the winning images here and below:
Article winners (clockwise R-L) Jessica Saxon, Mahi Sikan, Ella Bothwell and Scarlett Peart-Lapidge
In Britain, Jessica Saxon of St George’s College in Weybridge wrote the winning article about US politician and human rights campaigner Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, while Mahi Sikan of Thomas More School in Bedford, wrote about an Afghani woman on a mission to improve the healthcare of her community in very difficult circumstances, and came a close second. Ella Bothwell of St Richard Gwyn in Flint (who wrote a great piece about David Attenborough) and Scarlett Peart-Lapidge of Bishop Thomas Grant in London (who wrote about the Mizen family and their tireless campaigning for peace) were joint third.
Have a read of the winning articles here.