Never Such Innocence Competition 2020/21

An international educational charity, ‘Never Such Innocence’, is running poetry, art, speech, and song competition to give young people around the world a voice on conflict. The theme is ‘The Unheard Voices of Conflict: Stories From Around The World’- share your reflections on conflict or give a voice to those who may not have one. The theme can be interpreted in many ways, looking at historical or contemporary conflicts of any kind.

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Share your reflections on conflict or give a voice to those who may not have one. To inspire your poetry, art, speech, or song, use the 5Ws to explore the theme:

  • Who? This could be a conflict that has affected you / your family, or you could bring to light someone else’s story.
  • What? Conflict comes in many forms. What conflict affects you?
  • When? You can look at a historical or current conflict.
  • Where? This could be within your local community or around the world.
  • Why? New voices and perspectives are important if we are to understand the true impact of conflict.

Some examples of an ‘unheard voice’ could include: A personal family story relating to conflict, the feelings of a service child who has a parent deployed, the perspective of people from a defeated army, refugees fleeing from their homes, the perspective of indigenous or minority groups, young people caught in the midst of conflict, or if animals could speak – what would they say? Feel free to be creative with how you interpret the theme.

Apply now to this amazing competition.

Benefits

  • Winners will be invited to participate in unique experiences and every entrant will receive a special certificate of commendation for their work. In the past, participants’ work has been celebrated by world leaders like the prime ministers of the UK, Greece, and Canada.
  • The Volksbund had kindly offered 4 spots into their summer camp for first place winners in the 16-18 age category of each section of the competition.

Eligibilities

  • Entries are divided into the following four age categories*:
    • Age 9-11; age 11-14; age 14-16; and age 16-18.
      *the crossover of ages in these categories is to ensure children in the same school year have an equal opportunity. Categorization is at the discretion of Never Such Innocence based on the information provided on the entry form
  • Entries must draw on the competition theme: ‘The Unheard Voices of Conflict: Stories from Around the World’.
  • If you have any special educational needs you would like the judging panel to be aware of please make a note on your entry form.
  • All submissions are given a unique entry number to anonymize the judging process. We kindly request that only the title be written on the entry to ensure the submission may be identified and kept anonymous. All other details about the entrant should be confined to the entry form.
  • There is no entry fee.
  • Only one entry to each category per individual or group will be accepted; entrants may enter multiple categories (for example one poem and one piece of art may be entered by the same individual).
  • The judges’ decision is final and neither the judges nor Never Such Innocence staff will enter into any correspondence.
  • Entries from entrants aged 15 and under must be submitted by an adult (e.g. parent/guardian or teacher) on behalf of the entrant. The adult submitting the competition entry will be required to agree to the Never Such Innocence rules by way of a check-box on the online form or physical entry form. Winners aged 15 and under must obtain parental/guardian consent (if they were entered by a teacher) in order to have their work published.
  • The copyright of each entry remains with the author. However, by entering the competition, the author grants Never Such Innocence the right to publish and/or broadcast their work. All work entered into the competition may be broadcast with the entrant’s first initial, age range, school, and/or country. Never Such Innocence will endeavor to write to authors for permission to feature their name, age, school name, and location alongside the entry in any publication or broadcast before going ahead. Entrants 15 and under, entered by the teacher, will be contacted and require parental consent to have Full Name, Age, School Name, City, and/or Country work published.
  • The information you provide to Never Such Innocence is safe with us and we do not sell your data to third parties. Never Such Innocence will use and hold your data in accordance with the Privacy Policy which may be found here.

Poems:

  • All poems must have a title and must not exceed 40 lines in length.
  • Poems should consist of the contestant’s own work and should not infringe any copyrights or any other rights of any third parties.
  • Poems may be written in any language.
  • Poems should be either typed or legibly handwritten.

Artwork:

  • All artwork must have a title. We accept artwork in the form of sculptures and models; paintings and sketches; photography and digital mediums.
  • Artwork should consist of the contestant’s own work and should not infringe any copyrights or any other rights of any third parties.
  • Artwork may be produced in any medium such as watercolors, pastels, charcoals, pencils, acrylic, crayons, paper cuttings, oil paints, photography, or digital media.
  • They strongly encourage original work to be sent in, however, if you submit a photograph or copy of your entry they may request to see the original works of art following the initial shortlisting.

Song:

  • Songs must be no longer than 4 minutes.
  • Songs should consist of the contestant’s own work and should not infringe any copyrights or any other rights of any third parties.
  • Songs will be judged based on melody, composition, originality, and lyrics (when applicable). The quality of production will not be considered.
  • All writers will retain the rights to their original material – with the exception that a submission will grant a license in perpetuity to Never Such Innocence to exploit the song (meaning if you submit a song, we can play it…and if it makes any money, you will be paid accordingly).
  • Songs may be written in any language.
  • Songs should be either typed or legibly handwritten.
  • Please include a recording (video or audio) of your song and written lyrics.

Speech:

  • Speeches must be no longer than 5 minutes (roughly between 625-750 words).
  • Speeches should consist of the contestant’s own work and should not infringe any copyrights or any other rights of any third parties.
  • Speeches may be written in any language.
  • Speeches should be either typed or legibly handwritten.
  • Please include a recording (video or audio) of your speech and written lyrics.
Eligible Regions: Open for All

Application Process

  • The simplest way to enter is online If you would like to send us a physical copy of your work, please send it to Never Such Innocence, 11 Slingsby Place, London, WC2E 9AB. To request a physical entry form, please email [email protected].
  • If you are an individual submitting one piece of work, please use the Individual Entry Form.
  • If entering one work created by a group of young people please use a Group Entry Form. Include everyone’s names on the entry form, so that all of the young people receive a certificate.
  • If you would like to submit multiple works by different young people, please use the Multiple Entry Form.

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Application Deadline: March 19, 2021

Application ClosedOfficial link

For Further Queries

Any problems just ask them at [email protected] or call 020 7836 2603.
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