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    • DofE Changemaker of the Year

    Last month I was awarded the DofE Changemaker of the Year Award and was invited to Buckingham Palace to meet HRH the Duke of Edinburgh for Afternoon Tea. It was an incredible evening as I was able to talk to the other award winners who were doing some amazing work and breaking down barriers in their own communities, as well as Prince Edward and other celebrity judges like Harry Judd and Oliver Phelps. It was amazing to be inside the Palace and to have afternoon tea there!  After the reception at the palace, we went to the London Transport Museum for the awards ceremony, where I met other nominees and DofE Youth Ambassadors.

    I was nominated for the volunteering I’ve done, especially for the work I do at the Royal Berkshire Hospital. I joined their Youth Forum last August and was able to join and start lots of different projects, from starting a hospital radio show with a friend, to running a gift drive and talking at focus groups about primary care access. I am also part of their Call4Concern (C4C) Advisory Board, which is a group of health professionals and volunteers who work on promoting the service C4C. This service enables patients and families to ask for second clinical opinions if they are worried about their care whilst at the hospital. It was important to me that young people had a voice in the service as well as other policies, as often young people's voices are not heard despite young people being a large demographic who use healthcare services. I was then appointed a governor at the hospital in September and am now the Youth Governor for the year. In this role, I represent young peoples’ concerns when discussing plans and new policies with other board members. I also worked closely with our school foodbank and volunteered weekly at a care home.

      

    I was encouraged to volunteer because of DofE, which has a volunteering section. I’ve found that DofE encouraged me to get out of my comfort zone and try new things, like hiking the South Downs (despite not being an outdoors person), learning to code and volunteer. I would 100% recommend the scheme to anyone, and you can join Berkshire Youth to do DofE online.

    In October last year, I was awarded the Young Person of the Year award from Pride of Reading for my voluntary work. I was invited to a reception at the Reading Football Stadium, where I met the Mayor and other celebrity judges. It was inspiring to meet other people in Reading who are also working to make our town better.

    I was honoured to have won both awards, but I think the key lesson I’ll take away is to always try things, even if you're not sure if they'll work out. If you’re passionate about something, take a leap of faith and work on it, whether that's volunteering or applying for a position or speaking out about something. Every single person can make a difference, whether that’s small or big, and so I’d encourage you to try something new this year.

    https://www.dofe.org/thisisyouth-stories/?shpath=/this-is-youth-2024/change-maker

    Dora - Year 13