Win chance to be advertising guru (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Win chance to be advertising guru

8:54am Tuesday 7th November 2006 in Swindon By Joanne Moore

Local young people are being offered a fantastic opportunity to become the advertising executives of the future.

Students from schools and colleges all over Wiltshire and Swindon will be trained by industry professionals and invited to produce billboard, radio or bus advertising as part of a competition called The Agency', which aims topromote Education Maintenance Allowances (EMAs).

EMAs are income-relatedgovernment awards that give 16-18 year olds money for staying on inlearning.

Four area winning teams of the competition will see their designs used in areal advertising campaign for EMAs and will attend a glittering launch' party to celebrate their success.

The competition is funded by the Swindon and Wiltshire Learning and SkillsCouncil and is backed by Connexions Wiltshire and Swindon. It is organised by youth marketing company Largeportion.

All schools and colleges are invited to take part, with the winning teamschosen by March 2007. The competition is linked to media studies, business studies and English lessons in schools and colleges and it's hoped that asmany young people as possible will enter. Judging will be by local andnational experts.

Education Maintenance Allowances give eligible young people between £10 to£30 a week for staying on in learning after 16, if their household income is less than £30,810 per year. EMAs can support learning on a wide range ofcourses, including GCSEs, vocational qualifications, A/S levels, Basic Skills and some work based learning courses such asEntry to Employment(E2E) and Programme Led Pathways (PLP).

"We are very excited about this competition as it gives young people thechance to learn from industry professionals and to be really creative in the way they design their campaigns for EMAs," said Diana Smith, PartnershipManager of the Learning and Skills Council.

"This is an excellent way totell more young people and parents about the opportunities afforded by EMAs and it will also allow the winning teams to see their work being used inreal advertising campaigns. We look forward to seeing a great many excitingand original designs over the next few months."

Young people and parents can find out more about EMAs atwww.direct.gov.uk/ema or by phoning the helpline on 080 810 16 2 19.