Deciding what to do next? Here are some the stories of our other Award Holders. We are sure they will inspire you.
Akhil Amlani was nominated for the Diana Award in 2007, after restructuring the peer mentoring system at his school. In February 2008, he was announced as the new London Climate Change Champion.
Akhil won the new accolade after entering a Government-run competition in which he had to show he could encourage his family and friends to work towards reducing their carbon footprint. Akhil did a brilliant job by creating a green website, www.yourclimateaction.co.uk, which provides fun and informative information on how to be more environmentally friendly. Since receiving the new award from the Prime Minister, Akhil has begun to speak at events and conferences to raise awareness about climate change.
As part of his prize, Akhil was given £1000, which he used to turn a disused courtyard at his school into an eco-garden. With the help of three friends, and working over five days, Ahkil created a space that included drought-resistant plants, solar lighting, recycled materials, organic soil and a pond that will create a new eco-system. He also bought a solar-powered weather station to monitor changes in the local climate, allowing geography students to measure and record wind speed, wind direction, air temperature, air humidity, rainfall levels, air pressure, light intensity and hours of sunshine per day.
Akhil is now working with GoGreen4Schools to run a competition based on the success of his own project, and he is also being sponsored to go to the Arctic next year to study the effect of climate change on the local environment. Recently, he has worked with the Duke of Edinburgh Award incorporate environmental action into their work.
Twin sisters Ria and Ellice Bush each received a Diana Award after setting up an innovative web safety project. They toured local schools to present assemblies on the topic, and they also created a CD and a game about Internet use and cyber bullying, which they then sent to every school in Norfolk. The project saw them featured on TV, radio and in newspapers.
Sadly, both girls were bullied after doing the project, but they decided to turn the experience into a positive one by helping others who were being bullied, and letting them know that there were people they could turn to for help. Their new Just Smile initiative is now going very well and they have created special 'smile packs' which contain leaflets, a CD, a DVD, a game, a Smile Council advice leaflet and victim support cards. These have been sent to all Norfolk schools, plus many others in Suffolk, Essex and even Canada. The girls have also launched a website at www.justsmile.org.uk.
Ria and Ellice, who are both successful cadets in the Air Training Corps, are delighted their work continues to reach out to so many young people. As well as receiving a second Diana Award for Just Smile, they have also won a Philip Lawrence Award, a Nationwide Award, the WHAM project, Aim Commodore's Commendation, and the Crimebeat and Change It awards - all of which are testament to the fact that the girls are changing lives for the better across the UK and beyond.
Zuhra Bahman, now aged 23, was born and brought up in Afghanistan and was still at school when her city was captured by the Taliban. Zuhra’s work included teaching other young people underground, and her efforts to help children and women in Afghanistan led her to be invited to the UK. Zuhra continued to help the Afghan community from her college in London, raising money and getting clothing sent to internally displaced people around Kabul. Zuhra’s college nominated her for a Diana Award in 2003 and, since then, she has continued to help with the reconstruction of communities in her native country and has a set up a charity called the Afghan Youth Fund. One of her greatest achievements has been the construction of two libraries in Afghan schools to provide students with vital resources to help them learn to read.
Roper Peckham Cooper was 14 when his school nominated him for a Diana Award: he had raised over £3,000 by cycling solo from Lands End to John O’Groates in memory of his late mother. Roper says, ‘Now that I have the Diana Award I have tried to work even harder to live up to being a holder of it.’
Roper has continued to make a difference to people’s lives, both in his local community as Chair of his local Youth Forum and as a Diana Award Ambassador. As an Ambassador, Roper has conducted a scheme to introduce the Award to year 5-6 children at primary schools in his local area. Roper’s mother was passionate about children and, in her memory, Roper is setting up an ‘African Children’s Charity’ entitled JPC-ACC. Roper has been supported in this by the Charity Committee at his school (of which he is a member) and the Volunteering Charity, Timebank.
Ceri Davies was 15 when she was nominated for a Diana Award for overcoming her physical disabilities and achieving great as a member of the Dudley Youth Council. She has written articles for her school newsletter, the Dudley Council newsletter and the Kids Orchard Partnership information letter. Ceri subsequently became a Diana Award Ambassador and is now a member of The Diana Youth Advisory Board, attending regular meetings.
Ceri has written to Prince Harry to tell him more about the Award and has emailed her local MP to ask for tips on how to be even more successful in the Ambassador role. She also attended The Every School Matters conference to talk about her experiences as a Diana Award Holder and she is now the regional hub co-ordinator for the West Midlands.
Niki Dutton received a Diana Award in recognition of the articles on citizenship issues she wrote for her local newspaper at the age of 14. As an Award Holder Niki has gone on to take part in the young researcher’s programme, specifically looking into the issue of personal safety. She investigated how safe young women felt in her local area and why more of them didn’t take extra measures to protect themselves, such as carrying an alarm. Niki presented her research to an audience of other young people and representatives from youth organisations. With their help, she now plans to increase awareness of the issue within her school and wider community.
Amy Hewitt, now 17, was nominated for her Diana Award as part of a team that produced an Anti-Bullying Strategy for the Leicestershire region. Amy is passionate about the bullying issue because of her personal experiences. Since receiving her award she has become a very committed anti-bullying campaigner. She has spoken on this issue to many important people including government ministers, the Department for Education and Leicestershire head teachers. She is chair of the Leicestershire County Youth Council and they have created a subgroup dedicated to eradicating bullying.
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