On the 7th April I was awarded the Proud of Bucks Best Young Person Award for the Missenden District of Buckinghamshire - with association with Buckingham.
I was nominated for this award by Henry Hunt, Vice President and Activities Officer from the University of Buckingham Students’ Union, for all of my voluntary work I completed within 2021 both during and out of lockdown.
I started volunteering at 13 when I moved to England, working with a small Brownie unit. Now at 21 I am qualified with Girl Guiding to run meetings, with the unit I first started with. I then started taking part with Lighthouse and other organisations, which I am still a volunteer for today.
During Lockdown I ran a Youth Group for 12-18 year olds but due to many being not the biggest fans of Zoom it folded. So when we had the opportunity to meet back in person I set up a new one - HT Fusion. We have now met 10 times, and have grown from 4 to 16.
It's not surprising to friends and family that I would take on a volunteering role at university; we just never expected it to be President of the Sports Union, this was one of the best decisions I took.
I have found with all of my volunteering that my confidence has grown, and the connections I have made will last for a long time. I hope that people, seeing a student win an award, will consider giving an hour a week to help someone or something. It's so rewarding, and it makes our community a better place.