Suffolk New College has been announced as the South regional winner of the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS) Young Partners Award for their excellent work in youth participation.

The award, funded by BIG Lottery, celebrates and recognises youth participation and what young people can achieve through working in equal partnership with adults. This year’s ceremony, which was planned, organised and hosted by members of NCVYS’s national youth forum, ENVOY, brought together 12 shortlisted youth organisations across the country to celebrate the fantastic work they’ve achieved.

We went through three stages before we made it onto the final shortlist for the awards. The awards were divided into four categories (North, South, Midlands and National) and each category had three shortlisted organisations on the final shortlist with one being a winner in each section.

The prestigious ceremony was held on Saturday 15 October 2011 at Glazier’s Hall in London, with over 150 young people in attendance, including, young people from the organisations, young performers, photographers and filmmakers. We received several prizes including a grant from NCVYS towards developing their project, a year’s free NCVYS membership and prizes from sponsors of the event including a PGL activity day.

Matt Ellis part of the Autzine team said: “I’m so happy Autzine won, everyone is special and I don’t think it’s shown enough and its projects like ours that give them a voice. Everyone at the awards deserved to win, because all the projects are taking that voice and doing something with it to  help the wider community understand that young people are part of the solution and not always the problem, thank you for rewarding us for OUR way of showing how to use youth’s voice.”

DARKSIDERS

Just another God of War rip off?

So a guy walks in with his horse… Oh, what you’ve heard this one?

Anyway, here’s the basic rundown:

War goes to help the world assuming the Seven deadly seals are broken, he finds Abaddon, the Archangel, he realizes he’s been set-up and is stripped of his powers… Does this seem familiar to you?

So, you take the role of the mythical horseman War (some guy in red voiced by Liam ‘O Brien) embarking on a quest for revenge against some unknown madman who you’ll see at the end of the game. Combat is very varied but can be top-heavy and sometimes wobbles when you lean on it. Gameplay-wise it’s very enjoyable with a vast array of weapons, powers, passive abilities most of which can be purchased from some reaper-like dude named Vulgrim.

The Watcher is your boss… He’s dark, seems to think he’s scary and a real pain in the neck at times when you don’t do as he says…

So anyway, this game takes you across the world and even to the… beyond…

Along the way you’ll find several chests containing shards of armour (which can be used near the end of the game and selected when you decide to replay it).

So when you finally get this game beware that the tutorial is a bit clunky and on occasion the controls are a bit laggy, causing you to die many times and swear with every name under the sun.

Final Thought: Most critics would think this is another God of War rip off but it’s actually fun, addictive and totally and utterly brilliant if you can get past the rather strange control scheme.

If you liked this game you may like:

God of War III (SCEE)

OR

Dante’s Inferno (Visceral)

The format of the magazine is such that lots of young people can contribute articles, and not just those on the spectrum. Here at Suffolk New College, the idea is that should a student wish to write an article, they can come and sit with Matt and use the Apple Mac computer that has been provided. They will learn how to use the equipment, and how to write an article that is not only suitable for a magazine, but also suitable for someone with Asperger Syndrome, therefore developing a wider understanding of the disorder.

When articles are sent in from outside of SNC, they will need to be emailed to Autzine so they can be proof read and adjusted accordingly with feed back to the author, again developing a wider understanding.

In relation to the website, we will be creating a forum for Young People from all over the country to post their opinions on hot issues of the day that we can then feed to relevant policy making bodies and organisations.

We also want to develop an information base for young people, parents and professionals covering all areas of young people’s lives including interests, day to day stuff, education and getting a job.

Alongside that we are going to develop a section for organisations to publish activities in their area. Part of the commitment they will be making is to say how they will be making the activity accessible for this group of young people, again developing a wider understanding of their needs.

The long term possibilities for development are very exciting as we introduce and create a world wide community for discussion and awareness raising, specifically aimed at Young People with Autistic Spectrum Disorders.

 YOU can help by spreading the word. We want as many people and organisations as possible to log on and be a part of this.