Awards
Ireland Involved Awards
Chief Executive of Music Theatre 4 Youth, Jenny Cooke has been presented with an award for outstanding voluntary contribution at a ceremony to celebrate the work of volunteers throughout Ireland.
The Ireland Involved Awards is part of a European-wide initiative to recognise the work of volunteers. There were awards from ten different areas from Sports and Recreation to Animals and the Environment.
Jenny received the top award for her contribution to the Arts, Culture & Media at the official ceremony which took place in Dublin, where presentations were made by President Mary McAleese.
Gavin O' Connor from the Artc Council of Northern Ireland congratulated Jenny commenting;
"the Arts Council of Northern Ireland extends sincere congratulations on your award. A positive reflection on the important and pioneering work that you and the team of MT4Uth have championed with passion and determination over the last 5 years in relation to ensuring that young people and local practitioners on the island of Ireland have access to international best practice in music theatre. The Arts Council is pleased to have been able to support and resource the artistic work of MT4Uth in Northern Ireland."
The Allianz Arts & Business NI Awards
Nominee – The Young People Award (2009)
The A&B Young People Award is in recognition of a partnership that has harnessed the power of the arts to engage young people. In 2009 MT4Uth’s partnership with Tesco was celebrated with a nomination.
Tesco & MT4Uth: Awards Ceremony and transfer or production “Anything Goes” - 4 students received bursaries to enable them to continue their musical theatre training.
Winner – The Arts Award (2008)
The A&B Arts Award is awarded to the arts organization which has consistently sought to develop and pioneer new ideas, whilst demonstrating a progressive and creative approach to business partnership.
An independent panel judged the nominations based on the level of excellence in achieving the commercial goals of the business through the arts engagement, as well as achieving the strategic and creative goals of the arts organization.
Nominees included big hitters like the Belfast Waterfront Hall, Linenhall Library, Ulster Museum and many others. MT4Uth was presented as winner at an awards ceremony at the University of Ulster in January 2008.
Nominee – The Young People Award (2007)
The A&B Young People Award is in recognition of a partnership that has harnessed the power of the arts to engage young people. 2 partnerships were celebrated with nominations in this category:
Charles Hurst Jaguar & MT4Uth: “Footlighters”
- development of a bespoke programme of work for the show case company to perform at a number of high profile events.
First Trust Bank & MT4Uth: Dance Studio
- development of a bespoke dance programme for 20 young people drawn from across NI.
National Lottery Award – Best Arts Project, runners up (2009)
Music Theatre 4 Youth’s “Musicals in a Weekend” project was the only Northern Irish charity to make it to the finals in the arts category of the UK National Lottery Awards.
MT4Uth’s Founder / CEO, Jenny Cooke, and Manager, Sorcha Mc Veigh attended a star studded awards ceremony in London.
Past member, Niamh Perry, who credits MT4Uth with giving her the experience and confidence to take part in the BBC talent search “I’d do Anything”, was delighted that MT4Uth was recognised by the awards saying:
“the Musicals in a Weekend provide a terrific experience for young performers. The intensity of training is a superb grounding for future auditions and performances.”
MT4Uth came runner-up on the night for the best arts project.
The Big Idea 2008/09 Social Entrepreneur Award
The Big Idea is a national competition supported by Invest Northern Ireland to find and fund young people who have creative and innovative ideas that will impact on their school, college, business or community in a positive way.
Organised as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, the competition aims to encourage a greater culture of enterprise and innovation through the development of creative business proposals by social entrepreneurs across Northern Ireland.
There were seven judging panels around the world who selected the best projects in Northern Ireland and the winners were announced at a gala ceremony, hosted by celebrity television presenter and musician Myleene Klass, in The Culloden Hotel, Cultra on Tuesday November 18th 2008.
The prize of £10,000 was awarded to Sorcha Mc Veigh (MT4Uth Manager) to help with development of MT4Uth in 2009 into the Republic of Ireland.
The Big Idea! gala final was sponsored by the Department of Education and the Department for Employment and Learning, and the regional stages were delivered by Advantage and other enterprise partners NICENT, UnLTD and YENI.
Ian Murphy, Invest NI's Managing Director of Clients and Entrepreneurship, said:
"Participants in The Big Idea! represent the next generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders in Northern Ireland, and it is important that they are given the opportunity to showcase their ideas and receive a boost to develop their concepts.”
UnLtd – Level 2
The UnLtd Level 2 Award supports individuals and people whose ideas are already developed. In 2007 MT4Uth’s Founder / CEO, Jenny Cooke, was awarded £20,000 towards developing MT4Uth further.
UnLtd Millennium Awards are funded by the income from a legacy of £100 million granted by the Millennium Commission. This legacy is carefully invested so that the income can be obtained for awards for the future.