Twenty outstanding young people, from across the world, was at the Inaugural Legacy Award by The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry at St James’s Palace in London
All the Legacy Award winners – who come from the UK, USA, Canada, India, Belize and UAE – have had a monumental impact on society. Many of them only know Princess Diana as a historical figure but they carry the honour of the Diana Award with pride and admiration for whose memory it was set up in.
Tessy Ojo, Chief Executive, The Diana Award says: “This is a landmark event for The Diana Award as we join The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry in celebrating the legacy of Diana, Princess of Wales in this 20th anniversary year.”
The winners were selected from a poll of nominations by an independent judging panel chaired by Dame Julia Cleverdon, Founder of Step Up To Serve. The panel included; Julia Samuel, Patron of Child Bereavement UK and friend of Princess Diana and campaigner Baroness Lawrence OBE.
Julia Samuel, Patron of Child Bereavement UK and friend of Princess Diana says: “The twenty Legacy Award winners are truly inspirational- often coming from extremely difficult circumstances. It left me feeling profoundly hopeful for our future knowing these young people will be part of that future and our future leaders.”
About The Diana Award
The Diana Award is the longest running award for young people that is given to individuals and groups through a retrospective nomination process only. We believe this is special: young people do not work towards our award, rather they demonstrate their suitability through their actions, without expectation of reward. We believe this makes The Diana Award unique and the reason why young people form a deep connection to the award.
The Diana Award invests in developing young people through four key programmes
Our flagship Award – the Diana Award, continues to shine a spotlight on outstanding young people through a retrospective nomination process.
Our peer-led Anti-Bullying Campaign, enables young people to change the attitudes, behaviours and culture of bullying both offline and online through a multifaceted approach.
Our structured Mentoring Programme builds resilience and character for the most vulnerable young people in our society, helping them gain key competencies needed to navigate life successfully.
Our Inspire Series Programme, supports and enables young people to take positive action in their communities, helping them build leadership skills.
Over the next five years, we want to go further. Our aspiration is that the 11,000 hours that young people spend in full time education, are safe and bully-free hours, that young people have the tools, skills and competencies to effectively cope with, bounce back from and challenge bullying behaviour in their schools.
During this 20th Anniversary year The Diana Award is actively seeking supporters to help the charity continue this youth legacy, in memory of Princess Diana, and expand their work that fosters change through positive action with young people.
LEGACY AWARD WINNERS 2017
Joshua Adams. Age: 18 Area: Towcester, Northants Region: East Midlands
Asha Parkinson. Age: 17 Area: Bushey, Hertfordshire Region: Eastern
Nicholas Nikiforou. Age: 11 Area: Weston Super Mare Region: South West
Femi Owolade-Coombes. Age: 11 Area: Lewisham, London Region: London
Mathew White-Iley. Age: 15 Area: Hartlepool Region: North East
Brooke Taylor. Age: 15 Area: Lostock, Bolton Region: North West
Jonathan Bryan. Age: 11 Area: Stanton St Quintin, Wiltshire Region: South West
Garreth Browne. Age: 16 Area: Shantallow, Derry Region: Northern Ireland
Dervla Dolan. Age: 18 Area: Omagh, Co Tyrone Region: Northern Ireland
Jonjo Heuerman. Age: 15 Area: Wilmington, Kent Region:
Elan Môn Gilford. Age: 17 Area: Llanfairpwll, Anglesey Region: Wales
Maya Ghazal. Age: 17 Area: Perry Barr, Birmingham Region: West Midlands
Jemima Browning. Age: 16 Area: Stutton, North Yorkshire Region: Yorkshire and The Humber
Jaylen Arnold. Age: 16 Area: Lakeland, Florida Region: USA
Faith Dickinson. Age: 11 Area: Toronto, Ontario Region: Canada
Amaan Iqbal Ibrahim. Age: 15 Area: Sharjah Region: United Arab Emirates
Elsia Pop. Age: 17 Area: Belmopan Region: Belize
Nikhiya Shamsher. Age: 14 Area: Bangalore Region: India
Mercy Ngulube. Age: 18 Area: Cardiff Region: Wales
Suely. Age: 18 Area: Scotland Region: Scotland
(Photo Courtesy The Diana Award)
