LEMBIT ÖPIK MP VOICES SUPPORT FOR NATIONAL WRITING COMPETITION

11.57.37am GMT Wed 29th Oct 2008

Lembit Öpik, Liberal Democrat MP for Montgomeryshire, has called on teenagers in his constituency to take part in a thought provoking national writing competition. This fun competition, organised by financial education charity the ifs School of Finance, is open to any UK resident aged between 14 and 19.

The competition enables teenagers to test their writing skills by writing a 1,000 word article with the headline: "Should Government encourage home ownership?" As well as the title "ifs Young Business Writer of the Year", the winner will also receive a £500 cash prize.

Every year the ifs Young Business Writer of the Year competition is judged by a business or finance journalist from a national newspaper. Past judges include Robert Cole from The Times and James Daley from The Independent. This year Peter Taylor, City Correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, will judge the competition.

Peter will be awarding marks for demonstrating research, evaluation, analysis and written argument skills as well as for overall reporting style.

Commenting, Lembit Öpik MP said:

"The ifs competition can help improve writing standards in general, assists in fostering an interest in business & finance and also encourages students to think about what is a very important issue, especially given the current economic climate.

"I therefore hope that 14-19 year olds in Montgomeryshire participate in the competition and wish them every success in doing so.

"The housing crisis is very much upon us and so the title for this piece is timely. As, until very recently, the Liberal Democrat Housing Spokesperson, promoting home ownership was one of the most important issues that I had to grapple with. I would be very interested to know the thoughts of young people on this issue and look forward to hearing the contributions."

Anne Kiem, Dean of Further Education at the ifs School of Finance, said;

"We very much welcome the support of Lembit Öpik MP in highlighting the educational benefits of this competition.

"Once again, the ifs Young Business Writer of the Year competition has a thought provoking and highly topical question. It will be very interesting to see the different views young people have about home ownership as well as the Governments role in encouraging this."

Anyone aged between 14 and 19 who wishes to enter the competition simply has to e-mail their article (which must not exceed 1,000 words) to ybwy@ifslearning.ac.uk between now and the competition closing date of Monday 26 January 2009.

For more information please visit www.financialcapability.co.uk

Ends/diwedd

Notes to editor:

The ifs School of Finance, founded in 1879, is a registered charity incorporated by Royal Charter. The ifs School of Finance is currently the only provider of QCA accredited GCSE, AS and A level equivalent qualifications in personal finance and also operates the ifs Student Investor, a national investment competition for 14-19 year olds that attracts over 30,000 teenage participants every year.

For further information about the ifs Young Business Writer of the Year 2009 please contact Phil Hall (Head of Media, Public Affairs & ifs ProShare at the ifs School of Finance) on 07813 00 4414 or via e-mail at: phall@ifslearning.ac.uk