ARMY CADET HONOURED WITH THE BRITISH CITIZEN YOUTH AWARD AT THE PALACE OF WESTMINSTER
The British Citizen Youth Award, now in its ninth year, honoured 21 young people yesterday from across the UK that have made a difference in their communities and to society. These selfless young people have shown commitment to a multitude of causes, raising funds and awareness, and are all dedicated to making a difference. Each inspirational young person received The British Citizen Youth Award Medal of Honour, presented at The Palace of Westminster where the official presentation ceremony was held. Each young medalist is invited to use the post-nominals BCyA as a legacy of their achievements and commitment to others.
Hosting the event today was Singer and Actress, Kimberly Wyatt who is also a Patron of The British Citizen Youth Award who said “Many of these kids have faced turmoil in their own lives yet still choose to be selfless and help others. I applaud you and your families for your hard work and dedication. You are the future, and your brilliant endeavours will make a difference!”
Cadet Lance Corporal Isabella Turner, age 17, from 1st Battalion the Highlanders, North East Scotland, was presented with the BCyA Medal of Honour by Dame Mary Perkins, Founder of Specsavers and BCA Patron.
Recognising how anxious and ‘lost’ many children become during the transition from military to civilian life, and understanding the stresses related to coping with the change of not having the familiar military wrap around support, inspired Isabella to co-produce the Tornado of Change Project. Isabella recently completed a video showing young people from the forces the support and resources available to them, explaining that by joining a youth group is good for making friends and opening opportunities to develop and enjoy new skills within the local area.
The project welcomes children and makes suggestions to help them to make the transition more easily. Isabella also supports the Your Mind Matters project which provides wellbeing and mental health support to serving, reservist and veteran children. She helped co-produce a Your Mind Matters hub which provides access to support, online quizzes, podcasts and more. These resources are also useful to parents, educators and professionals.
For the past four years Isabella has been part of a Forces children’s book club named Page Turners. Here, Isabella helped develop a ‘book journal’ and was then invited to participate in multiple projects for Forces Children Scotland including the Ruby Boots project which focused on living as a veteran family.
Dame Mary Perkins, Patron of the BCA said: “The British Citizen Youth Award recipients are very special individuals. These young people all go above and beyond for others with selfless acts of kindness and community spirit with no thought or expectation of praise or reward. This Medal ceremony is a great opportunity to shine a light on what they do and give them the recognition they so thoroughly deserve. They are the nation’s true unsung heroes and the rising stars of the future.”
Usually only open to individuals, this is the third year, The BCyA, alongside Partner’s Specsavers, have honoured a group with The Dame Mary Perkins British Citizen Youth Award. The group, WCHG Youth Ability Group from Manchester have collectively positively impacted their community.
Each Medal of Honour bears the words ‘For the Good of the Country’ and is presented to only a small number of exceptional young individuals annually. The British Citizen Youth Award is widely viewed as the nation’s way of recognising extraordinary, everyday young people for exceptional endeavor and are truly representative of today’s multicultural Britain.