FOURTEEN Year 13 students from St Mary's Menston have been honoured with a Diana Award.

Thomas Brady, Jessica Carroll, Chris Chavez-Cronin, Ben Cheetham, Marienn Collins, Joseph Copsey, Dominique Cunningham, Will Giles, Niall Hogan, Hannah Jowett, Mitchell Lofthouse, Elliot Mulligan, Rebecca Still and Lucy Tindale were awarded the Diana Champion Volunteer Award for their work in South Africa as part of the Bambisanani Partnership.

The students visited the country during the summer of 2015 and were responsible for mentoring young leaders from Mnyakanya High School through the Bambisanani Leadership Award. In addition, they also taught at the school and together with Mnyakanya students, were responsible for organising community reading and sports festivals. The St Mary’s students also worked at Ntolwane Primary School and Zulufadder Orphanage.

Since 1999, more than47,000 young people have been recognised with a Diana Award for making an outstanding difference in their communities’ across the globe and continuing Princess Diana’s legacy. With the support of HRH Prince William and HRH Prince Harry, the Diana Award aims to inspire and recognise social action in young people by going beyond its Awards programme with youth-led initiatives that empower young people to achieve their full potential and make a difference.

Tessy Ojo, CEO of the Diana Award said: “The Diana Award is proud to recognise incredible young people like the St Mary’s students, who have the confidence and courage to stand up for what they believe.

"The Diana Award is presented to inspirational young people who work to improve the lives of others in their schools and communities. With a growing network of more than 47,000 award holders, we are building a force of young people who are committed to taking actions and improving the lives of others.”

Catherine Chattoe, Bambisanani co-ordinator at St Mary’s, said: “We at St Mary’s are extremely proud of the students.

"The Diana Award will encourage them to continue their fantastic work and will hopefully inspire others to make a difference in the community. The students were delighted to receive an award in recognition of their work.”

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