A valued and integral 14-year-old member of Fleet United Reformed Church (URC) in Wessex Synod has gained a Lundie Memorial Award.
Nominated by Helen Bailey, the church鈥檚 young person鈥檚 leader, Alice Bagshaw gained the award for her charity work.
Alice was one of 21 students chosen by her school to travel to Sri Lanka for 10 days to support the (OST), a Fleet-based charity that empowers schoolchildren and communities through education.
Before the trip, Alice formed part of a school group that fundraised for a whole year, raising more than 拢3,000 through various means, such as selling crafts at Christmas fairs, baking cookies and muffins to sell at church and completing sponsored runs and cycling events.
In Sri Lanka, Alice was based in Batticaloa, a town on the east coast of the island which is also one of the poorest communities in the country. Alice helped to run activities in local schools, enjoyed sightseeing and meeting new people.
The 拢3,000 raised by Alice鈥檚 group went towards improving schools in the area and renovating a school鈥檚 music room, supporting feeding programmes and providing resources to sponsored children and preschools.
Alice said the best part about being involved in the work with OST was seeing the amazing impact the money she had helped raised and the charity has on communities in Sri Lanka. That seeing how much hope and joy was brought to the children is an experience she鈥檒l never forget.
When asked how she felt about the award, Alice said: 鈥淚 was so surprised to find out I was February’s winner as I had not been expecting to be chosen at all. It made me proud to think about what I had done as something God had planned for me to do, as it helped me to realise how much he values each individual and what he helps us to achieve.鈥�
Encouraging other young people to get involved with their charity work, Alice added: 鈥淚t feels wonderful to know that something small you have done can have such a wonderful impact on someone else. I will never forget the friendships I made in the time I was there.鈥�
Each recipient of the Lundie award receives 拢100. Alice is taking time to consider where this money will be best used.
Learn more about the Lundie Memorial Award.