FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
If you are a school, educational establishment or a youth organisation and are running the Achievement Award Scheme, we hope the information below will answer the questions you may have. You can also read our Hints and tips for running the Jack Petchey Achievement Award Scheme leaflet. It gives a quick overview of what you need to do.
How many awards will we have each year?
JPF runs three different scheme levels:
Bronze – 3 awards for young people each year
Silver – 6 awards for young people each year
Gold – 9 awards for young people each year.
We will decide which level is the most appropriate for your school or youth organisation, depending on the number of young people you work with. We will send you Achievement Award materials in September and in January with a reminder of your scheme level and your number of awards. Your Achievement Award funding will be released in two instalments over the year and is usually paid at the end of January and September.
Please click here for a breakdown of the different scheme levels
If you think that you might be on the wrong scheme level, please contact your Grants Officer who will be very happy discuss this in more detail with you. Back to top
Which young people should win the achievement awards?
We know there are many young people who deserve recognition. These awards are for those young people who have gone above and beyond what might be expected of them. Young people achieve in lots of ways, including by overcoming personal challenges and adversity, achieving sporting and musical success as well as by volunteering and making a difference within their community.
The Achievement Award Scheme is not intended solely to recognise young people’s academic achievements. The Achievement Award Scheme is a scheme for young people and is intended to be run by young people. At the very heart of the Achievement Award is the fact that by making the nominations and selections themselves, young people recognise the hard work and efforts of their peers.
Our Stories of note showcase inspiring young people who have won Jack Petchey awards.
How should we choose the young winners?
So long as young people are at the heart of the decision-making, we are flexible about how award winners are nominated and selected.
We encourage you to use a system that will work well within your school or youth organisation.
What does each award winner receive?
When a winner is selected they will need to be publicly congratulated for their achievement in front of their peers at an assembly, club event or youth group session. They will be given:
- A framed certificate and pin badge.
- A letter from Jack with an opportunity to keep in touch and join our JPF Achievers community.
- A copy of ‘Notes from Sir Jack Petchey CBE’ – a special booklet with Sir Jack’s own advice and guidance for young achievers.
- £300 to be spent on something of their choice that will benefit their school or youth organisation (for example equipment, a day out for the team, a specialist to come in and train the young people).
All the winners’ materials will be sent to your school or youth organisation at the beginning of each grant period (i.e. in September and January). To print the award winner’s name onto their certificate, please use our template, available here. Award winners will be invited to attend one of our fun celebration events where they will be congratulated on stage in front of friends and family and will be presented with one of our iconic medallions. Back to top
What can the winner’s award money be spent on?
Award winners can spend their grant on something that will benefit their school/youth organisation and their peers. We encourage award winners to take ownership of making this decision and think creatively about what they would like to spend their award on.
They can use our wishlists to help guide their decision. The most important thing is that the award winner chooses how the funds are spent.
Please note that award money cannot be spent on an organisation’s core costs – it is specifically marked for activities /resources/trips and other purchases that the young people would not otherwise be able to benefit from. It also cannot go towards something that has already happened as this takes the decision out of the young person’s hands!
For additional information and resources which have all been designed to help you and the award winner to decide how to spend the money promptly
If you ever want to discuss a proposed grant spend – simply give us a call! We are always happy to help. It is important that you keep all receipts so that you have a clear and transparent record of your financial transactions.
How do we celebrate our young people’s achievements?
At the Jack Petchey Foundation we believe it is important to celebrate young people’s achievements and to promote the positive things that young people do. This is why we encourage as much celebration as possible. Young Achievement Award winners will be celebrated:
- Firstly when you make the initial announcement. This will be within your school/youth organisation and ideally in front of the majority of students/members. This is when the young person receives their certificate, pin badge, sign up letter and ‘Notes from Sir Jack Petchey CBE’.
- Secondly at one of our fun award ceremonies. All award winners will need to attend to be presented with their medallion in front of friends and family.
If you are unable to attend an event you can organise your own presentation. Please contact your Grants Officer for more details. Here are some ideas of additional ways you can celebrate your young people’s achievements:
- Notify the winner’s parents or carers, feel free to use this template letter.
- Ensure you have a vivid and eye catching notice board of achievements. You are encouraged to create an eye catching poster to include on the notice board and add pictures and quotes that are personal to your school / club.
- Use your websites, intranets and internal newsletters to sing your members / students praises.
What do I do if our school/club scheme coordinator has changed?
The Achievement Award scheme relies on one individual within the organisation to run the scheme. This person will be our main contact: all materials and communication will be sent to them and they are responsible for ensuring the scheme is run smoothly. If a coordinator leaves the school/club then we must be notified immediately with details of a new coordinator. Please note that grants will be temporarily suspended during times when there is no coordinator in place.
All new coordinators will need to familiarise themselves with the requirements of the Achievement Awards scheme and sign a new agreement form. Our Grants Officers will be more than happy to visit new coordinators to go through the scheme face to face and ensure that new coordinators are confident to manage the scheme.
To change your Jack Petchey Coordinator, please login to the Community Area and follow the link at the bottom right hand side of the page beside application forms and we will update the coordinator details accordingly”
If your coordinator has left please ask the new Coordinator to contact us at jpf@jackpetchey.org.uk to request a change of coordinator.
Our bank details have changed – how do we update our details?
Please contact your Grants Officer who will add this request to your Community account where you will be able to add your new bank details along with a copy of your bank account to verify the bank details.
What is the role of a coordinator?
The Coordinator is responsible for the administration of the Achievement Award Scheme within the organisation/group or school. The coordinator should be responsible and if under the age of 18, is to be supported by an adult The administration of the programme has been designed to be easy to manage. The Coordinator is responsible for ensuring that:
- The scheme is run efficiently and effectively and as outlined in our toolkit
- That grant reports are submitted on time as required
- Communication with your JPF Grants Officer is maintained
- Any change of Coordinator is reported to your JPF Grants Officer
What are the reporting expectations?
Scheme coordinators will be required to submit a grant report by the end of each grant period (30th June and 30th November). You will be required to submit the following details for each award winner via your Community account:
- Name
- Age
- Citation (Description of why the young person has been recognised)
- Breakdown of how the young person has spent their grant
For further advice on how to write a citation, please watch our short video below. Back to top
Tips for how to write a good citation
This video will also help when writing citations for your grant reports:
Read our Achievement Awards Toolkit which provides all the information Coordinators need to get started in running the Achievement Award Scheme.