Media Trust partner with The Sun to find raw, undiscovered talent

The Sun's search for the next Column Idol - the nation's best young writer - has been narrowed down to six finalists.
After beating off hundreds of other entrants, these aspiring young journalists will each have the chance to have a one-off column published in The Sun.

Here, last year's winner Lee Price introduces the final six.
 
Rebecca Withey, 25.
Rebecca is profoundly deaf and says that she's been an unofficial walking billboard for deaf awareness since she was born.
Having struggled to get people to move past the stereotypical notions they have about deafness, she wishes to write a 'day in the life of…' feature about herself.
Rebecca, a freelance performing artist, choreographer and trainer, said: "This piece would serve to banish old fashioned, silly concepts - such as how we don't actually have ultra-high sensitivity to 'vibrations' nor can we actually lipread someone from afar (although we like to try)."
 
Ridhwaan Hussein Yusuf, 22.
Ridhwaan is convinced that Asian footballers are ready to step up and help England win the world cup again.
Having taken a four-year apprenticeship scheme straight from school, he now works as an engineer for London Underground.
The Londoner uses that income to fund his own football academy - and is convinced he can play his part in developing England's next big talent.
He said: "For the 2010/2011 season I had an under-18s team that won the league without dropping a single point. They are also cup finalists.For the future I hope to have one of the best academies in London."

Tom Hale, 18.
Teenager Tom, from Ludgershall, stood out with his column idea - as he wants to talk about TEA.
He has just completed his A-levels and is hoping to study the history of media writing at university.
His dream job, though, is to appear on a panel show - "being paid to make people laugh for two hours".
He said: "I think it would be interesting to a wide audience because a wide demographic of people drink tea in many different shapes and forms. It is important to me because tea is the problem solver - when people fall out what do they reconcile over? A nice cup of the old chai"
 
Elizabeth 'Yemzi' Akingbade, 19.
Yemzi is a Black British girl who has been raised by a white family in Bournemouth since she was ten-weeks-old.
She is studying Creative Writing and Textiles at Bath, but is transferring to a London course where she'll feel better represented.
She said: "Being fostered, being black, being young and even being a female are factors as to why I often feel underrepresented, but I have tall intentions to make my unique voice heard. I would like to write a column about the controversial issue of children being fostered or adopted outside of their race. It's an important issue to me because I was fostered by a white family (many years before it became a fashion trend amongst the rich and famous) and it has shaped the person I am today."
 
Matthew Rogers, 22.
Essex-boy Matthew has developed an intense national pride, after spending nine months travelling in Australia.
The English graduate jetted across the globe immediately after finishing university, but is alarmed with the Britain he has returned home to.
"Since arriving back in the UK it seems that the country is at breaking point. The coalition government is about as united as Ryan Giggs and his brother. When I was in Oz people kept asking me 'what's so great about Britain? I would like to have the opportunity to answer that. I have seen positives everywhere. I feel this is important because a lot of young people can't see beyond the doom and gloom and I just wanted to show them that there is a light at the end of tunnel."
 
Laura Osborne, 21.
From a young age, Laura dreamed of being a journalist, but she says suffering depression at college meant she lost focus and got poor results.
Laura currently works as an optical assistant and lab technician in Specsavers in Andover, Hants., but she will be starting a degree in social work at the University of Sussex, in Brighton, in September.
She hopes Column Idol will enable her to achieve her dream of having her writing published.
She said: “The message I want to get across is that society’s view of older people needs to change radically. By 2034, 23 per cent of our population will be aged 65 and over, but at the moment, I don’t feel we value our older people enough. I recently volunteered with the elderly, where I taught them how to use the Wii Fit. I was so surprised by how they reacted to it. They were very enthusiastic and particularly liked the boxing. The experience made me realise that we don’t change as much we think. We still want to enjoy all the fun, new activities that the world has to offer.”