Frances's Story

The first time Frances Hutchison was called to her Headteacher’s office was to be told off for not wearing proper school uniform. The next time she went she was presented with a Diana Award. “I was absolutely gobsmacked,” she recalls.

She needn’t have been, because she fully deserved the recognition for her amazing work. Following the tragic death of a Year 10 student, Frances went on a sponsored “chocolate strike” and forfeited her 17th birthday presents to raise money for the local Martin House Hospice, which helps young people with life-limiting illnesses. She also won a £150 prize from Earthwatch, which she used to develop a school wildlife garden by buying flowers, plants, compost bins and a water butt, as well as helping to work for the school’s Bronze and Silver EcoSchools awards. As one of her teachers put it: “Fran has inspired staff to be environmentally aware and has been an ‘eco-encourager’ to all. She has given much younger and less able students a real feeling of self worth, raising self esteem of the timid and insecure.”