By Community Correspondent Roshini Fernando.

The Wings of Hope charity aims to empower children through education and they do so by providing free education. For those living in poverty and those that are orphaned or separated from their families a lack of education often leads to a vicious cycle preventing the children from escaping from poverty.

The Wings of Hope charity decided to start an award scheme, which is dedicated to raising funds by getting teenagers, aged fourteen upwards, to represent the charity and raise money in innovative ways. Students can either enter the scheme on their own or with a team of up to six people. As soon as the students enter they then plan and execute their ideas and prepare for the initial deadline in February. The charity is so devoted to helping people, that students are given a generous amount of time to raise as much money as they can. The charity also keeps students motivated by offering them fantastic incentives, such as workshops with top employers in the UK industries.

There are four stages to the Achievement Award. The first stage is the registration to the charity. The second stage is known as the “snapshots project” report, in which contestants produce all information regarding their efforts to submit for judging, these reports can be in a variety of forms including a scrap book or a video. For the third stage, Semi-finalists are chosen and present their report to a panel, made up by the likes of Sir David Jason, Deborah Meaden and many more influential and successful people, in the House of Lords. The fourth stage is a celebration for all participants, even those who didn’t qualify to the semi-finals. It’s also a special occasion since the winners are announced. These lucky students are offered the once in a lifetime experience, where they are able to take an all-expenses paid trip to either India or Malawi, where the Wings of Hope run projects.

A participant of WOHAA, who is representing the group ‘Wohoo for WOHAA’, Sara Abbasi spoke about her experience so far “I've had so much fun working with my friends for a cause that's especially designed for young people. Coming up with ideas and raising money isn't easy, but the feeling you get, knowing you've helped to feed children in Malawi, is irreplaceable!”

You can visit www.wohaa.co.uk for more information. Good luck to all involved and keep raising all you can because the deadline for the second phase is fast approaching.