One Life

In December I had the fortunate experience of being invited to the YOPEY awards (Young People of the year), because Jacob, my Godson, had made the finals after being nominated by his teacher. The tension rose throughout the night as each finalist was profiled and we were all encouraged and amazed by the young people on stage. The local MP clapped, the press took photos. The moment came for the ‘Oscars’ style drum rolling envelope opening, and sadly Jacob didn’t win! We were all dutifully told that everyone was a winner because young people were getting positive press, to which we all smiled and agreed and covered up the competitive edge that felt the disappointment!

I was struck by the fact that so many of the finalists were there partly because of their active involvement in local churches. It got me thinking about all of you who are involved in leading across the country, and the massive impact you are making bit by bit. Many of you deserve a nomination so that’s what we will do! There was a moment in Onelife’s development when we thought about running a ‘Young Leader of the year’ award, but it seems far better to refrain from setting up our own thing and get you all nominated for YOPEY, where the profile of your transformational leadership will impact the UK even more!... watch this space…