On Wednesday, June 3, Agent Academy CIC, the UK’s first fully-funded marketing academy celebrated the successes of its second cohort of students with a graduation ceremony and the unveiling of their inventive, social marketing campaign.

Business leaders from across the Liverpool City Region attended the ceremony hosted at Liverpool Life Sciences UTC.

In attendance at the graduation ceremony were representatives from NHS Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool Vision and Trinity Mirror among other supporters.

At the ceremony, Agent Academy CIC programme manager, Thomas Ledson, shared his enthusiasm for the marketing programme during his commencement speech. He congratulated the academy’s young people on their accomplishments and their dedication to an original, innovative anti-bullying campaign, Angry Words.

In March 2015, Agent Academy CIC’s 10 specially-selected young people were tasked with the creation of an online safety campaign by NHS Liverpool CCG, an initiative that would benefit young people’s wellbeing and enforce positive mental health.

The programme was designed as a reaction to the worrying rise in online bullying and trolling that young people can fall victim to and was supported by engagement with students from The Studio school and North Liverpool Academy (NLA).

Moira Cain, Practice Nurse Governing Body lead at NHS Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group, said:

“It was a pleasure to support Agent Academy’s talented young people and invite them to contribute to our ‘Healthy Liverpool’ community programme. Their innovative campaign, Angry Words,  addresses the rise in online bullying and trolling in an increasingly digitally-connected world and equips young people with the knowledge and confidence to overcome these issues.

“Angry Words has been developed by the Academy’s young people and co-created with support from business leaders and local students at The Studio school and North Liverpool Academy (NLA). Consequently, this campaign has young people firmly at its heart and will be mentally and emotionally beneficial to the needs of a generation from across our region, and further afield.

“I wish Agent Academy’s young people every success for the future and thank them on behalf of NHS Liverpool CCG for developing such a well-suited, inventive campaign.”

Director of Agent Academy CIC, Paul Corcoran, said:

“We are truly thankful for the support, time and resources offered to Agent Academy from businesses across the Liverpool City Region and key speakers on the programme. Today’s graduation ceremony is the culmination of months of hard-work invested in Agent Academy CIC by our students, my team and the organisations who have kindly supported the second programme.

“Angry Words has been an incredibly exciting project to oversee. The academy’s young people have recognised the dominant effects of digital technology in our society and have created a supportive campaign that can be rolled out across schools in our region and beyond.

“In addition to seeing this innovative campaign come to life, I’ve had the privilege to watch Agent Academy CIC’s young people grow into confident, intellectually-curious marketeers. I wish them every success in their future endeavours and I’m confident that the skills they’ve acquired on this hands-on programme will assist them in unlocking their true potential.”

If your school wishes to adopt the Angry Words campaign or if you would like to find out more information about Agent Academy CIC please visit www.agentacademy.org.uk, email tom@agentacademy.org.uk or head to Twitter and follow @Agent_Academy / @ANGRYWORDS_