Wings of Hope Achievement Awards Semi-Finals (2024)
On 20th June, Dr R. Sri Ram and Mrs. Rajni Sriram – co-founders of The Wings of Hope Achievement Awards (WOHAA) – hosted the annual semi-finals presentation at Westminster for students to present their work to a senior panel of judges. This year marks 20 years of WOHAA with over 40,000+ students completing the WOHAA programme.
The judging panel was led by Lord Robin Butler of Brockwell, KG, GCB, CVO, former Head of the Civil Service under five Prime Ministers, actor Sir David Jason, Fellow and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford, Dr Tim Mawson, Professor Simona Botti MBA Phd, of London Business School, comedian Michael Dapaah, Mrs Sangeeta Doraiswami, educationalist, and wife of the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, and Jemma Tadd, Head of Fashion eBay.
Students from all over the UK, who over months have been conducting student fundraising and community projects for Wings of Hope, were shortlisted to present their work to the judges. 23 WOHAA teams of students, all aged between 14 years old and 17 years old, confidently made creative presentations to the judges.
Rajni and Dr. R. Sri Ram said: “We are so proud of our amazing young students, who have consistently shown that young people are true agents of change. When they are given a platform such as WOHAA, they shine. The creativity, entrepreneurship, care for their local environment and community, and the professionalism they show in their snapshots projects and semifinals presentations is outstanding, and completely humbling. For over twenty years we have been running this programme, and the semi-finals day is one of our favourite days in the year. The day is an immersion into the hard work of thousands of students, and we always get very emotional seeing and hearing about the skills the students have learnt.”
Fundraising projects included world-record attempts, marathons, dressing up as Monopoly board pieces, origami making, candle gift-making, football tournaments, car-washing, music festivals, trekking, Easter egg-hunts, portraits drawing, cultural evenings including Iftar evenings, pre-loved fashion and books sales, choir competitions, and busking.
Skills learnt: the students recount the journeys they have been on and talk of the many skills they learn outside of a classroom environment – from organisational, teamwork, learning how to solve problems, work with their local community, entrepreneurship, communication, creativity and beyond.
Community projects included litter picking, creating bug hotels for local insects, creating animal shelters, mental health clinics, GCSE clinics, visiting local hospitals, volunteering at emergency departments in hospitals, donating to food banks, cleaning up local waterways and more.
Awareness projects: All students worked hard to communicate the work of the Wings of Hope Children’s Charity, and the international projects in India and Malawi, through school assemblies, social media videos – some of which went viral, presentations to local community groups, and creating flyers, and going on supervised door-to-door charity walks.
Sir David Jason said: “I have been judging these awards for nearly 20 years and what is consistent is the resilience, creativity, and sheer humanity these students show. They really are the leaders of tomorrow, that I continue to be inspired by.”
Lord Butler said: “I could not miss seeing these students, they are truly special and demonstrate what community and creativity are in the best of forms.”
Dr. Tim Mawson said: “The wonderful students, who came to and fro in front of us, each with their inspiring and humbling –  accounts of what they’d done – with interesting variety as well as commonality amongst them.”
Professor Simona Botti  said: “I wish I had WOHAA when I was growing up, the students had such great business acumen, and a way of conveying clearly their mission, that it was a true joy to watch and be part of.”
Michael Dapaah said: “One, two, three… I can… these students humbly show what determination, and a can-do attitude of building communities together is all about. I cannot wait to support this wonderful charity more.”
Schools represented
Some of the schools represented by the students of the semi finals include Mount House School, Queen Elizabeth School for Girls, Townley Grammar School, Sheffield School for Girls GDST, St. Cecilia’s School, Brooke House College, Rodborough School, The Malling School, Kingsdale Foundation, Azhar Academy, Dulwich College, London Academy of Excellence, Royal Masonic School, King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls, St. Olave’s Grammar School and more. Students travelled from Sheffield, Birmingham, Leicestershire, Kent, across London and beyond.
The students will be continued to be mentored for their work, and the finals ceremonies will await after the judges deliberate this hard-fought competition.
