“Europe & Me”, a UK online lifestyle magazine for young Europeans has won the prestigious Charlemagne Youth Prize 2011 [1].  The team behind the award-winning publication today travelled to Europe House to meet with panel judges and London MEPs Jean Lambert and Marina Yannakoudakis.

Created in 2007 by eight students from across Europe, “Europe & Me” aims to overcome the popular perception of Europe amongst young people as a grey, faceless bureaucracy by making Europe “more personal”.  Written by young Europeans for young Europeans, the publication has now built up a readership of more than 20,000 from 20 different countries, and has had more than 90 contributing authors.

“It is a great honour to win the Charlemagne Youth Prize 2011 and a real testament to the volunteering of lots of young Europeans who have made this publication a reality”, Mathew Shearman, Editor of Europe & Me, said.

He continued: “It has been fantastic to receive this recognition for our hard work and we hope that the prize acts as a catalyst for developing the project.”

On welcoming the team, Green MEP for London, Jean Lambert, said: “Europe & Me is an extremely original idea which truly captures what being European means.  Mathew and his team must be congratulated for their work in supporting the emergence of a young European public.

“As a member of the European Parliament Employment and Social Affairs Committee, I welcome the dedication that Europe & Me has shown in providing training and learning opportunities to young people across Europe and I hope that the publication continues to inspire for many years to come.”

Notes to Editors

1. The Charlemagne Youth Prize, open to people aged between 16 and 30, is a competition which seeks to encourage the development of European consciousness amongst young people, as well as their participation in EU wide integration projects.  The prize is awarded to projects which foster and promote the developed of a shared sense of European identity and offer practical examples of European living together as one community. The winning project receives funding of €5,000.  For further information about the Charlemagne Youth Prize, please visit: http://www.charlemagneyouthprize.eu
2. To learn more about Europe & Me, please visit: www.europeandme.eu