YOPEY’s history
Ex-national newspaper journalist Tony Gearing founded Young People of the Year in the early noughties after he became fed up with the bad press the media was inflicting on young people. It was as if every young person was a binge-drinking, drug-taking, violent hoodie.
He was convinced this was not true and ran his first Young People of the Year contest in Hertfordshire in 2004-5 to find young people who were doing good in their communities. The first winner was a teenage girl who volunteered in a special school for children with severe disabilities.
80 young people of the year contests
With the help of his wife Jo and other adults, Tony went on to run over 80 Young People of the Year contests from 2005 to 2017. Each one consisted of a campaign to find amazing young people, getting their stories published, holding an awards ceremony, in lavish settings to raise aspirations, and getting more publicity for the winners.
Winners have included many young people who have done amazing things, from building schools in Africa through raising thousands for good causes, to turning their lives around after tragic circumstances.
The youngpeopleoftheyear.org website is no longer available but you can read some of these stories in a magazine Tony wrote during the pandemic called Your Kinds Are NOT Covid’s Lost Generation. You can receive a copy of this by making a donation to YOPEY here.
In 2012 the volunteer organisation, Young People of the Year, became the registered charity YOPEY. Can you see where the name came from?
YOPEY wanted to give more young people the opportunity to contribute to their communities so Tony came up with YOPEY Befriender, where young people volunteer to provide company to lonely care home residents, many living with dementia.
The first YOPEY Befriender partnerships were trialed in 2013 and the last Young People of the Year contests were held in 2017 – the same year Tony was made an MBE ‘for services to young people in the UK’.
In 2012 the volunteer organisation, Young People of the Year, became the registered charity YOPEY. Can you see where the name came from?
YOPEY wanted to give more young people the opportunity to contribute to their communities so Tony came up with YOPEY Befriender, where young people volunteer to provide company to lonely care home residents, many living with dementia.
The first YOPEY Befriender partnerships were trialed in 2013 and the last Young People of the Year contests were held in 2017 – the same year Tony was made an MBE ‘for services to young people in the UK’.
During the pandemic, YOPEY Dementia Befriender went ‘virtual’. Unable to visit care homes, YOPEY Befrienders wrote letters, compiled activities such as crosswords, made artworks and videos. YOPEY Virtual Variety Shows can still be seen on YouTube .
By the end of the pandemic YOPEY was supporting over 2000 care homes UK-wide and several abroad.
We still send care homes letters etc on request but we have returned to face-to-face befriending. Ever innovating, from autumn 2025, we are offering young people two ways to support the elderly by volunteering as either Partnership YOPEY Befrienders or Independent YOPEY Befrienders.