MEET THE YOUNG PEOPLE SUPPORTED BY THE DIANA AWARD_

Yusuf Ben-Tarifite
Stories
The Award

Yusuf Ben-Tarifite

Yusuf, a medical student at Oxford University, is on a mission to democratise the application process and tackle educational inequity in the medicine applications industry.

Sofia Scarlat
Stories
The Award

Sofia Scarlat

Sofia has been personally responsible for driving important change in enacting gender-sensitive legislation across Romania.

Shamim Ahmed Mridha
Stories
The Award

Shamim Ahmed Mridha

Shamim is a climate change activist and young leader, who has worked on various projects to raise awareness, including education programmes and campaigns.

Netra Venkatesh
Stories
The Award

Netra Venkatesh

Netra is a passionate young entrepreneur who is on a relentless mission to educate and empower girls from multiple countries in Asia and Africa.

Joel Nkeonye Mordi
Stories
The Award

Joel Nkeonye Mordi

Joel is an inspirational human rights advocate. After experiencing extremely challenging times, they felt compelled to tell his story authentically.

Hailey Richman
Stories
The Award

Hailey Richman

Alzheimer’s disease is a very lonely one, both for the patient and caregiver. As a young carer, Hailey wanted to create a community that supported those in similar situations.

Gobhanu Sasankar Korisepati
Stories
The Award

Gobhanu Sasankar Korisepati

Recognising the barriers that traditional financial services pose to impoverished minority groups by refusing loans due to insufficient financial collateral, Gobhanu was driven to create a solution.

Christina Williams
Stories
The Award

Christina Williams

Christina is a highly accomplished student advocate from Jamaica who has been integral in the ongoing transformation of the education sector in the Caribbean.

Chiara Riyanti Hutapea Zhang
Stories
The Award

Chiara Riyanti Hutapea Zhang

Chiara wanted to take action after finding out about the lack of access to education for ‘landfill children’ in Southeast Asia.

Alizey Khan
Stories
The Award

Alizey Khan

Alizey was exposed to poverty from a very young age, growing up in a city where half the population survives on less than $2 per day.

Uday Bhatia
Stories
The Award

Uday Bhatia

After witnessing the effects of the power crisis in rural India, Uday decided to act and help create a brighter future for communities in need.

Sophie Pender
Stories
The Award

Sophie Pender

When Sophie started at Bristol University, she faced unexpected hostility and prejudice due to her working-class background. Her peers, her background and her social class mattered more than her academic achievements in the eyes of the other students.

Sikander ‘Sonny’ Khan
Stories

Sikander ‘Sonny’ Khan

Raised as a Pakistani American, Sonny understands the unique privileges he carries, compared to the daily struggles his family and community existing in Pakistan.

Oluwadamilola Akintewe
Stories
The Award

Oluwadamilola Akintewe

Growing up in a rural community and as a first-generation university student, Oluwadamilola's story is about resilience, courage and determination.

Olivia Zhang
Stories
The Award

Olivia Zhang

After losing two loved ones to cancer, Olivia felt empowered to take something negative and create something positive out of it.

Nafira Nayeem Ahmad
Stories
The Award

Nafira Nayeem Ahmad

Nafira has always felt a profound sense of injustice at her unfair society, saying, "while my only problem in life was finishing homework, someone my age had to lift bricks for a mere meal. Tell me how that is fair".

Manasi Gupta
Stories
The Award

Manasi Gupta

Mental health advocacy and making mental health services accessible and affordable is one of the most remarkable selfless activities carried out by Manasi.

Maddison O'Gradey
Stories
The Award

Maddison O'Gradey

Maddison is a mental health lived experience advocate committed to reducing the stigma around mental illness.

Gabrielle Wong
Stories
The Award

Gabrielle Wong

Gabrielle is a passionate young leader who is determined to improve the quality of computer education in rural communities worldwide.

Dejea Lyons
Stories
The Award

Dejea Lyons

Dejea has dedicated herself to working for a better future for her home, the Cayman Islands, with the hope to create a future free of environmental destruction.

#HOODEDHELPERS
Stories
Mentoring

#HOODEDHELPERS

Last year, mentees in Jersey planned and delivered their youth-led social action project with support from The Diana Award Staff, volunteer mentors and the wider community. Hooded Helpers challenged negative stereotypes and promoted positive messages about young people instead.

#BESEEN
Stories
Mentoring

#BESEEN

Motivated by their personal experiences and discussions in the Mentoring Programme about the Black Lives Matter Movement and negative portrayals of young people in the media, two mentees from The Global Academy came up with a plan.

William Hogarth Primary School
Stories
Anti-Bullying

William Hogarth Primary School

Anti-Bullying Ambassadors at William Hogarth Primary share why they are proud to be Ambassadors and the projects they have worked on together.

GLENMOOR AND WINTON ACADEMIES
Stories
Anti-Bullying

GLENMOOR AND WINTON ACADEMIES

Students at Glenmoor & Winton Academies share why anti-bullying matters to them, and how our #FreeTheShoulders workshops have impacted their school.

ALEXANDER ANDERSON
Stories
The Award

ALEXANDER ANDERSON

Diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome aged 9, Alex faced many challenges both physically and mentally. He was dismissed as a ‘naughty child' by teachers and moved between several different schools.

VEE KATIVHU
Stories
The Award

VEE KATIVHU

From losing her father and leaving her home country of Zimbabwe, to feeling unsupported in her studies while juggling her part-time job at McDonald’s, Vee has overcome her fair share of obstacles.

WEI (VIVI) LIN
Stories
The Award

WEI (VIVI) LIN

Vivi has had endometriosis and dysmenorrhea since she was young and was diagnosed with an ovarian tumour aged 17.

ZUBAIR JUNJUNIA
Stories
The Award

ZUBAIR JUNJUNIA

Around the world, students' access to resources, advice and support varies dramatically. To Zubair, this seemed grossly unfair, and so at just 16 years old he decided to set up a blog to make learning resources available, completely free of charge.

TUNDE OYEBAMIJI
Stories
The Award

TUNDE OYEBAMIJI

While in his fourth year of medical school, Tunde was caring for a woman in labour when she started to bleed out.

SIA GODIKA
Stories
The Award

SIA GODIKA

At the age of 13, Sia was concerned that people in her neighbourhood were not wearing footwear. She noticed adults and children with bruised and swollen feet and saw how construction labourers, families and street vendors were all working barefoot in hazardous conditions.

ROUDY ALI
Stories
The Award

ROUDY ALI

Roudy is a Kurdish activist from Afrin who was forced to marry and have a child while still a minor in Syria.

HIYA SHAH
Stories
The Award

HIYA SHAH

Hiya saw from a young age the barriers and misogyny in society. In 2017, aged 14, Hiya launched ‘Fundraising for the Girl Child’, applying social entrepreneurship to elevate, educate, and empower girls to close the educational and economic gender gap.

JAHIN RAHMAN
Stories
The Award

JAHIN RAHMAN

During childhood, Jahin’s best friend was forced into a child marriage. Then, in third grade, Jahin’s friends were attacked by a group of 25 men during a violent political protest.

LOTTIE LEACH
Stories
The Award

LOTTIE LEACH

After attempting to take her own life following years of depression and an eating disorder, Lottie became determined to destigmatise discussions around mental health through education and raising awareness in her school and the wider community.

HANNAH HODGSON
Stories
The Award

HANNAH HODGSON

Hannah lives with probable Mitochondrial Encephalopathy, which is a terminal illness. Her work with ‘Together for Short Lives’ means she has spoken in parliament, medical conferences, and various NHS collaborations about her personal experiences of life-limiting illness.

DIANA CHAO
Stories
The Award

DIANA CHAO

Diana grew up living below the poverty line, working multiple jobs from sixth grade onwards to support her family.

CHRISTINA ADANE
Stories
The Award

CHRISTINA ADANE

Christina is a passionate activist with ‘Bite Back’, where she fights for a fairer and healthier food system. As the elected chair of the youth board, she shares her own experience of living off free school meals to inspire others.

CARYS MIHARDJA
Stories
The Award

CARYS MIHARDJA

At the age of 13, Carys founded ‘Carys Cares’, an organisation promoting the rights of people with Down’s syndrome through sharing their multi-talented potentials.

ALLY ZLATAR
Stories
The Award

ALLY ZLATAR

Her own struggle against anorexia motivated Ally to raise awareness of eating disorders, body dysmorphia and illness through the power of art.

ARIAN ARJOMANDI RAD
Stories
The Award

ARIAN ARJOMANDI RAD

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Arian saw his home country of Italy struggling to cope. He made a selfless decision to go back to help on the frontlines, working tirelessly as a volunteer on ambulances to support Italy’s overwhelmed healthcare system.

AODHÁN ROBERTS
Stories
The Award

AODHÁN ROBERTS

Following the murder of a local journalist in Derry, Aodhán set up the social media page ‘Derry Footage’ to share stories and encourage other young people to speak up against wrongdoings.

ANNA MCGOVERN
Stories
The Award

ANNA MCGOVERN

Aged 15, Anna was accepted as a volunteer Journalist with ‘First News’, where she educated over 2,000,000 young readers on the core social issues affecting them most.

ANGELO CARDONA
Stories
The Award

ANGELO CARDONA

Angelo witnessed the harmful effects of armed conflict as a child and has been campaigning for peace ever since. In 2009, he co-founded the ‘Network for Peaceful Coexistence’, offering workshops on peaceful conflict resolution to young Columbians.

Shomy Hasan-Chowdhury - Case Study
Stories
Case Studies

Shomy Hasan-Chowdhury - Case Study

The Legacy Award was launched in 2017 to celebrate Diana’s legacy in the 20th Anniversary year and inspire a new generation of young people to service their communities.

ADITYA DUBEY
Stories
The Award

ADITYA DUBEY

After experiencing respiratory infections and asthma as a result of severe air pollution in Delhi, Aditya founded ‘Plant a Million Trees’, an initiative that started off with him planting a few saplings alone and sharing the photos on social media.

Mentee Story - Demi
Stories
Mentoring

Mentee Story - Demi

This is Student Story. We would like to introduce you to Demi who was a mentee on the Leeds Mentoring Programme at Selby Community House.

MADDISON TORY - CASE STUDY
Stories
Case Studies

MADDISON TORY - CASE STUDY

Maddison received the Award for her commitment to improving the quality of life for children suffering from chronic or acute illness, injury, and mental health issues.

Ross Macpherson
Stories
The Award

Ross Macpherson

Ross is a committed volunteer who has selflessly given much of his time to help others. Ross began to create origami sculptures at age nine as a way of coping with his diagnosis of Tourette Syndrome.

Victoria Ibiwoye
Stories
The Award

Victoria Ibiwoye

Education should be a fundamental human right but sadly, over 13 million children are still out-of-school in Nigeria.

Shomy Hasan Chowdhury
Stories
The Award

Shomy Hasan Chowdhury

Shomy is a water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) activist from Bangladesh. She has dedicated her life’s work towards ensuring clean water and sanitation for all.

Muna Hassan
Stories
The Award

Muna Hassan

Muna has been a determined, brave, and quirky activist from the age of 14. She began to discuss, raise awareness around, and campaign against Female Genital Mutilation while the subject was still taboo.

Olivia Hancock
Stories
The Award

Olivia Hancock

As a lifelong passionate footballer, Olivia is campaigning to end sexism in girl’s football and introduce the sport into every UK primary school.

Maya Ballentine
Stories
The Award

Maya Ballentine

Maya campaigns tirelessly on issues of equality and social justice. She is a leading member of her college’s Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) and promotes equality by speaking at school assemblies and on national television.

Madhav Datt
Stories
The Award

Madhav Datt

Having grown up and lived raised in a state of India that is deeply affected by water scarcity, Madhav is perhaps best known for his work on safe water access.

George Mathias
Stories
The Award

George Mathias

George began raising money to say thank you to the hospital that saved his little brother’s life. When George was aged four, his brother James was born premature and ended up in a coma.

Kanchan Amatya
Stories
The Award

Kanchan Amatya

Growing up in Nepal, Kanchan experienced first-hand how women and girls often suffer the worst from malnutrition and poverty in South Asia.

Ezara-Mai Downes
Stories
The Award

Ezara-Mai Downes

Ezara-Mai is a committed and tireless advocate for young people. She believes that every young patient should have a voice.

Gabrielle Tan
Stories
The Award

Gabrielle Tan

Gabby is driven by a vision of a liveable and just future for all. She has dedicated herself to advocating for a healthier planet and educational equality.

Avye Couloute
Stories
The Award

Avye Couloute

At the age of seven with a passion for coding, Avye became aware of the gender gap in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and decided to do something about it.

Connor Lynes
Stories
The Award

Connor Lynes

Connor is an incredible role model for determination, resilience, sheer grit, and passion. He established his charity in 2015 after two strokes following a rugby head injury.

Daniel Lawes
Stories
The Award

Daniel Lawes

Daniel is driven to ensure that all young people across the political spectrum are listened to by political figures and that their issues are represented.

Ahmad Nawaz
Stories
The Award

Ahmad Nawaz

Ahmad was just 14 when he survived a Taliban attack on his school in Peshawar, Pakistan by playing dead. He was badly injured, and the atrocity saw his younger brother, his teacher, and 150 of his classmates massacred.

Aditi Sivakumar
Stories
The Award

Aditi Sivakumar

Aditi is a passionate philanthropist, leader and advocate for women empowerment and global health. Her volunteer work for a wide range of causes has spread across the Canadian city of Ottawa and beyond.

Córa-Laine Moynihan
Stories
The Award

Córa-Laine Moynihan

Córa-Laine has dedicated the past five years to helping other young people cope with and recover from the effects of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse through the charity Safeline.

Ben West
Stories
The Award

Ben West

Following the tragic suicide of his brother, Ben had a bold idea: talking. He wanted people to open up about mental health problems to reduce the stigma around them.

Asha Parkinson
Stories
The Award

Asha Parkinson

Asha is a talented musician and change-maker committed to using the positive power of music and words to break down cultural and religious barriers across the world.

Mathew White-Iley
Stories
The Award

Mathew White-Iley

Mathew is a kind, compassionate and inspirational young anti-bullying ambassador and mentor, who has been the driving force behind his anti-bullying ambassador team at his school.

Eban Geal
Stories
The Award

Eban Geal

Eban is a committed volunteer who is driven by his passion for sports inclusivity. His volunteer work at school clubs and in his wider community encourages others to develop a passion for sports and fitness.

Erick Venant
Stories
The Award

Erick Venant

Erick has burning desire to become part of solution to different public health challenges. He particularly pays attention to the fact that some of these challenges can be solved by simple measures like increasing community awareness and understanding.

Adam, London
Stories
Mentoring

Adam, London

Adam took part in the Mentoring Programme in January 2017 and his social action project focused on knife crime; how devastating it is, how it destroys families and negatively effects individual’s lives.

Logan, Leeds
Stories
Mentoring

Logan, Leeds

Logan was supported by mentors from Wakefield District Housing (WDH), Melon Holidays and a student from Leeds University.

Nikhiya Shamsher
Stories
The Award

Nikhiya Shamsher

Nikhiya has played a crucial role in changing the lives of nearly 6000 underprivileged children, through her initiatives that ensure children across India have the facilities, funds and resources needed to build a better future through education.

Brooke Taylor
Stories
The Award

Brooke Taylor

Brooke is a courageous fundraiser, raising thousands of pounds for the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital Charity (RMCHC), having been treated there since birth for a spinal condition.

Elsia Pop
Stories
The Award

Elsia Pop

Elsia has made it her mission to ensure the cultural traditions of the Mayan people, comprising 11.3% of the population of Belize are not forgotten.

Nicholas Nikiforou
Stories
The Award

Nicholas Nikiforou

Nicholas was born with a large congenital melanocytic nevus. This is classified under the Disability Act and medical terminology as 'disfigurement' with Nicholas strongly disagrees with, advocating for facial equality.

Femi Owolade-Coombes
Stories
The Award

Femi Owolade-Coombes

When Femi was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome at the age of seven, he wondered how it would shape his life, not realising the incredible influence he would have on other young people who were also neuro-divergent.

Mercy Ngulube
Stories
The Award

Mercy Ngulube

Mercy is a courageous social activist who has used her own personal painful experience of stigma and discrimination to drive her commitment and pursuit of equality of young people living with HIV.

Amaan Iqbal Ibrahim
Stories
The Award

Amaan Iqbal Ibrahim

Amaan has been a powerful force in supporting over 1000 labourers in the United Arab Emirates, where tens of thousands of workers hailing from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh travel to the area to work and support their families back home.

Jonjo Heuerman
Stories
The Award

Jonjo Heuerman

Jonjo is a remarkable, inspiring 15 year old who dedicates much of his time to fundraise for The Bobby Moore Fund in memory of his Nan who passed away from bowel cancer and his football hero, Bobby Moore.

Dervla Dolan
Stories
The Award

Dervla Dolan

Dervla has been the driving force behind setting up The Enda Dolan Foundation after her brother Enda, was tragically killed in a road accident in Belfast.

Maya Ghazal
Stories
The Award

Maya Ghazal

Maya is both a role model and a compelling spokesperson for young refugees and migrants across the UK.

Elan Môn Gilford
Stories
The Award

Elan Môn Gilford

Elan is an exceptional sportswoman and coach who has helped thousands of young people across Wales build confidence and skills through sport.

Jonathan Bryan
Stories
The Award

Jonathan Bryan

A tireless campaigner and advocate for people with disabilities, Jonathan is nothing short of inspirational. Unable to speak, Jonathan communicates via a spelling board attached to a piece of perspex, with his communication partner reading his gaze to each letter.

Garreth Browne
Stories
The Award

Garreth Browne

After losing his father and mother in the same year, Garreth has been a pillar of support to his older sister and two younger brothers.

Jaylen Arnold
Stories
The Award

Jaylen Arnold

Aged 9, Jaylen decided to make a bold stand after being bullied for having Tourette syndrome and autism.

Joshua Adams
Stories
The Award

Joshua Adams

Since the age of 13, Joshua has acted as a full-time carer for his mother who has a complex mental health disorder, as well as his two younger sibling.

Roll of Honour 2018
Stories
The Award

Roll of Honour 2018

Established in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, The Diana Award is the most prestigious accolade a young person can receive for their social action or humanitarian work.

Ryan Hicks
Stories
Mentoring

Ryan Hicks

Ryan completed the Mentoring Programme in July 2017. “Our project was on knife crime and this is something we were really passionate about.

Elsa Arnold
Stories
Anti-Bullying

Elsa Arnold

Elsa is a Diana Award Anti-Bullying Ambassador and has volunteered with The Diana Award on multiple occasions.

Maryam Chowdury
Stories
The Award

Maryam Chowdury

When Maryam volunteered for the Al-Isharah deaf charity she learnt sign language to better understand the challenges deaf people face.

Tom Broughton
Stories
Anti-Bullying

Tom Broughton

Tom is an Anti-Bullying Ambassador who has bravely spoken out about his experiences of homophobic bullying and has became a powerful ambassador for other young people. He has represented The Diana Award various national events.

Komal Kaur
Stories
Mentoring

Komal Kaur

Komal realised that, even though she is a teenager, she can still help to make a positive change and do something for the benefit of others.

Faith Dickinson
Stories
The Award

Faith Dickinson

At just nine years old, Faith launched the charity Cuddles for Cancer after her aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer. During her treatment, Faith’s aunt told her how she got very cold, so Faith made her a fleece blanket to provide comfort, warmth and love.

Shomara Fuller
Stories
Mentoring

Shomara Fuller

Through The Diana Award’s Mentoring Programme, which connects pre-GCSE teenagers with Mentors from the world of work, Shomara planned and produced a social action project around the subject of racism and mental health.

Jemima Browning
Stories
The Award

Jemima Browning

Jemima has dedicated countless hours of her time to improving the lives of young people with disabilities through her highly successful Stingrays Swimming Club.