Today has been incredible but also very exhausting! I had a very early start getting up at 4:30am to catch a train at 5:52am.. I’ve now been awake for around 18 hours on around 5 hours sleep the before that.. safe to say I’m tired! But I wanted to make a record of today, for myself and to also show others how empowering campaigning and volunteering can be!
Having been nominated by Fixers UK for a Diana Award, today was the day to go and attend the awards ceremony and also take part in workshops to further my campaign. This morning I was actually quite nervous as I had no idea what to expect, but I actually really enjoyed today. There were parts that were challenging, talking to new people and standing up to collect my award, because of my anxiety. However, it didn’t stop me and I’ve met and spoken to some really inspiring young people today. I met another awesome Fixer called Alex and lots of other people.
Hearing all of the stories of the individual young people, and the school groups that had won Diana Awards today, was really inspiring! Some from the school groups were as young as 10 and making massive changes in their schools to prevent bullying etc! It made me want to keep working harder on my campaign, and also made me want to show young people how important it is to take action on the things that matter to you!
There were two special guests from BBC Midlands, Elizabeth Glinka and Beccy Wood! I was presented mine by Elizabeth who was so lovely and also complimented my dress which was nice! I did sit back down shaking though, but was mostly in control of my anxiety. Here’s a picture of when I was presented my award ( She was very tall and so I look even shorter than I am) ;
We also received a booklet with all award holders from today’s projects in it, with a short biography which was read out before we collected our awards! This was mine;
We also had some live music from the incredibly talented Larissa Eddie, which I really enjoyed! I had never heard any of her music before, but I loved it, and will definitely be listening to more!
Overall I still feel very undeserving of the award, as this is just part of me! But today really has been incredible and an opportunity I could never have imagined! The biggest things I’ve got out of today, alongside wanting to carry on developing my campaign and carry on doing all the volunteering I do, is that social action projects really can be started by anyone! I think people always see it as something that is almost impossible to do, but change always starts with one person, and you can be that person to start the movement! I really want to start emphasising the importance of social action to other young people, who really underestimate what a rewarding experience it is!
Campaigning has not only allowed me to have some incredible opportunities while doing what feels right to me, which is helping others and talking about things I am passionate about, but it has also developed my own skill set and helped me overcome challenges in my own mental health. I would never have managed to spend the day in workshops with people I’ve never met before, but campaigning has allowed me to become a lot more confident and equipped to deal with these situations. It proves that even those that seem like the shyest of people, can really make a difference if they stand up for what they believe in! If there’s something you want to change, be that globally, nationally, locally or even personally, then go out and be that change! Find people to support your movement, and go for it!
I really feel that social action, volunteering and campaigning can be extremely in recovery! It certainly has been for me and many I know, if there’s something you think you’d like to try to change, then you have nothing to lose by trying!
Once again, today has been really great, and has left me feeling even more motivated to carry on doing what I’m doing and put as much as I can into it. Oh.. and I have also got through today with a total number of 0 panic attacks -Yay! It’s also left we with quite a few ideas of where I can take the project next, and also get other young people involved. Volunteering is a route to helping achieve good mental health, and I would strongly encourage anyone to get involved with something in their communities!
What would you like to change most withing our society?
We can beat this!
We can beat this! 