The work of our volunteers is what makes the Orwell Youth Prize unique. More than just a prize, we offer support to all young people who put pen to paper (or fingers to keypads) through the delivery of personalised feedback and a fair judging process.
Find out more about our volunteering opportunities below. If you are interested in getting involved, please email admin@orwellyouthprize.co.uk
“I think my work was a small part of something big…I would definitely recommend it. It’s a very rewarding experience. It allows you to contribute to something great, which will make you feel good about yourself. ” Cristina, UCL Student Volunteer 2022
Personalised Feedback
Our feedback provides young people with a personalised response to their work, with experienced professionals across the spheres of publishing, literature, academia, civil society and more offering their perspectives and knowledge to ensure young people’s work is the best it can be when they submit it to the prize.
Our feedback aims to go beyond that typically offered within a formal academic setting; encompassing grammatical and stylistic advice as well as encouragement and suggestions for further reading around a subject area. This opportunity provides young people without strong academic support networks the chance for constructive advice on their writing from skilled individuals. We believe this shouldn’t be a privilege isolated to those at the best schools.
Ideally, volunteers will be comfortable offering feedback across writing genres given that young people enter writing in multiple forms including poetry, short stories, essays and journalism. However, we can work to build a volunteering opportunity tailored to your expertise in a certain form (e.g., some volunteers are more comfortable commenting on essays than poetry).
“I’ve really enjoyed participating, and the chance to get some feedback was so lovely.” 2022 Winner Aarushi Dahiya (read Aarushi’s winning piece)
“The feedback helps you improve not only that specific piece of writing but also your writing skills in general, so there really is a lot to be gained even if you don’t go on to win… (It) also gave me a sense that I wasn’t just writing into the void – someone had actually read my piece and was actively helping me to better myself.” 2020 Winner Hugh Ludford (read Hugh’s winning piece)
Writing Time
Writing each piece of feedback takes on average about 45 minutes depending on the length of the piece. Volunteers have the opportunity to commit to as many pieces of feedback as they are able to manage – we generally ask readers to commit to at least 6 pieces, but there is some flexibility on this. We do ask that volunteers give us a clear indication of time they are able to give at the beginning of the process so that we can assign pieces accordingly to ensure young people receive their feedback within our timeline and that we maintain our commitment to them.
Due to safeguarding, the Foundation team manage the relationship between writer and ‘feedbacker’ – this process is anonymous by necessity. However, we are sure to feedback any comments or thanks from young people back to the volunteers.
2025 Dates for Feedback Process
The feedback process starts as soon as the prize opens. However, volunteers will be given more significant allocations of feedback to complete between December and 9th April (the deadline for volunteers to return their feedback).
Shortlisting
The Orwell Youth Prize prides itself on its robust and transparent judging process. All entries are anonymised and read by at least two readers as a way to whittle down a final shortlist which goes to our judges.
Estimated Time Commitment: Shortlisting
The number of entries given to a ‘shortlister’ to read is also flexible, though we generally ask readers to commit to at least 10 pieces (around 3-4 hours). The length of the piece depends on the genre and age category, but the maximum word count for a piece is 1,500 words.
2025 Dates for Shortlisting
Shortlisting will take place between the 14th April-23rd May. Volunteers will need to be able to commit to a number of hours within this period to be eligible to take part.
Becoming an Orwell Youth Prize Volunteer
The Orwell Youth Prize prides itself on the quality and diversity of its volunteer network. We’re keen to work both with organisations and individuals with the necessary skills to support young writers and thinkers in new ways.
Training
Volunteers will be asked to attend a short online briefing session where the Programme Manager outlines the feedback process in more detail. The session is also an opportunity for volunteers to ask questions about the youth prize and the process. We will also provide volunteers with our volunteer handbook.
Organisations
The Orwell Youth Prize currently has strong volunteering partnerships with Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, University College London and King’s College London. If your organisation has a corporate social responsibility policy or service strand and a workforce with a strong literary, academic or policy-based skillset please do consider getting in touch to discuss the development of a volunteer offer.
Individuals
The Orwell Youth Prize welcomes individuals with the skillsets we are seeking. Given the nature of our work, we particularly seek volunteers with a background in the arts and humanities (preferably studied to BA level). However, we of course understand that talents and experiences can be found outside traditional markers. As a result, we may ask volunteer applicants to submit a CV, writing sample or to complete a feedback task ahead of their engagement with the process.
“Volunteering to help longlist entries for the Orwell Youth Prize was such a fantastic opportunity… it was an uplifting experience to be able to engage with such imaginative writing from young people from such a wide range of backgrounds.” Emma Collison, Oxford University Press Volunteer
Our responsibility to young people
Ensuring we responsibly deliver a quality experience for young people is our priority. As a small organisation, our feedback offer to young people is safeguarded through a centrally monitored and anonymised system of delivery. Volunteer induction includes details of our safeguarding process, but should you have any questions on our process please contact admin@orwellyouthprize.co.uk