![\"ggya-youth-award\"](\"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/ggya-youth-award.jpg\")
Registration in the Governor General\u2019s Youth Award picked up pace in 2013, finishing up three percent ahead of 2012 figures, according to data released during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held over the weekend at Government House.<\/p>\nRegistration in the Governor General\u2019s Youth Award picked up pace in 2013, finishing up three percent ahead of 2012 figures, according to data released during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held over the weekend at Government House.<\/p>\n
In 2013, there were 1,703 youths in the program making up 51 units, compared to the 1,658 young persons in 49 units recorded in 2012.<\/p>\n
Seven new units were established last year, with another three inactive units coming back on stream. Furthermore, there was an 18 percent increase in volunteers with the numbers rising from 129 to 152.<\/p>\n
Units were located in 22 schools and two youth organizations in New Providence, while 11 were in operation on the Family Islands and nine in Grand Bahama.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is also encouraging to note that in Grand Bahama there is now a steady rise in the enrollment of youth on that island,\u201d said Felix Stubbs, a member of the program\u2019s Board of Trustees, who brought remarks on behalf of the board\u2019s chairman, former Governor General, Sir Orville Turnquest.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese developments have all resulted from the hard work and dedicated interest of the officers and volunteer leaders of the GGYA throughout The Bahamas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Underpinning the success of one of the country\u2019s most formidable youth program is a financial partnership with the government.<\/p>\n
The financing arm, called the G.O.L.D. Initiative, contributed some $417,225 to the program, while the second largest stream of income \u2013 private donation \u2013 saw an increase over 2012 and totaled $83,925, according to Everette Mackey, treasurer of the GGYA\u2019s National Council.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are fortunate to have the support and respect of so many,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Funding is crucial when it comes to the GGYA operating units in Abaco (3), Acklins (1), Andros (3), Berry Islands (1), Cat Island (1), Crooked Island (1), Eleuthera (4), Exuma (2), Grand Bahama (9), Inagua (1) and Long Island (1).<\/p>\n
In 2013, new units were started at the R.N. Gomez High School in the Berry Islands; Mangrove Cay High School in Andros, the Tabernacle Baptist Christian Academy in Freeport and Old Bight High in Cat Island.<\/p>\n
Also partnering with the GGYA for the first time was the Royal Bahamas Defence Force Rangers, Akhepran International Academy and the Home School Leadership Academy in New Providence.<\/p>\n
Delivering special reports during the meeting were Elaine Gomez from the GGYA\u2019s Grand Bahama office, Simone Murphy from Inagua\u2019s All Age School; College of The Bahamas student and Gold participant, Edwin Johnson; Lyford Cay International School\u2019s unit leader, David Mindorff and Gold Award Holder DeShawn McGregor.<\/p>\n
Mr McGregor credited the youth program for helping him to figure out his calling.<\/p>\n
\u201cGGYA actually opened up my eyes to how much I love the environment and how much I wanted to give back in that aspect,\u201d said Mr McGregor, an environmental specialist at the $3.5 billion mega development, Baha Mar. \u201cIt opened my eyes to what I wanted to do in life\u2026what I found was a career I love.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2013 AGM came at the conclusion of the GGYA\u2019s validation process which aims to ascertain whether the program meets standards set by the Duke of Edinburgh\u2019s International Award, of which the program is an affiliate.<\/p>\n
The International\u00a0Award has a presence in over 140 countries. It recognizes persons 14 to 25\u00a0with a Bronze, Silver, or Gold Award\u00a0for completing a series of self-development initiatives and adventurous journeys.<\/p>\n
In 2013, the International Award made significant changes to the program and required its members to gain accreditation and apply to receive a license to operate. The Bahamas received its conditional license in May 2013.<\/p>\n
Observing and assessing the weekend conclave was David Clarke, regional director of the Americas and Edwin Kimani, regional director of Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a quality program,\u201d said Mr Kimani. \u201cAll is good for The Bahamas. There is no doubt you will be getting your license.<\/p>\n
Precision Media<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Registration in the Governor General\u2019s Youth Award picked up pace in 2013, finishing up three percent ahead of 2012 figures, according to data released during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held over the weekend at Government House.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":18639,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[55,21,51],"class_list":["post-55852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-awards","tag-educational","tag-youth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}