On Friday 3rd March 54 pupils from Staindrop C of E Primary School received their Young Leaders Awards from Bishop Julian Henderson, the Bishop of Blackburn.

The Year 5 and 6 pupils had created a fantastic video showing all that they had learnt about leadership and helping others which they shared with the rest of their school and visitors during an awards assembly.

Bishop Julian said; “It is a great privilege to give out these awards.  I particularly noticed that every child said thank you for their certificate, showing gratitude, which is a great sign of learning to be a leader.”

Lesley Davidson, Year 6 teacher, said; “The children gained a real sense of community by going around the village and seeing what they could do to help improve their local area and also an understanding that they can make the community a better place through their own efforts.”

For their community action project the pupils organised an ‘Elf Day’ to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society.  Lesley Davidson also shared that “the process allowed children to have a greater understanding of the disease and…taught the children a lot about compassion and how just one small good deed can have a big impact.  They made an informative video about the disease that went on the school website and was used in a launch assembly for the fundraising project.  Everyone got involved! What an achievement!”

Rozy Brian, Strategic Lead for Primary Awards, said; “These pupils have shown great maturity in how they have reflected on what they achieved and learnt through the Young Leaders Award.  One of them described the award as ‘everlasting’.  I know that these pupils will take forward all that they have learnt and continue to make a difference and be the change they want to see in their community.”

To date the Youth Trust have enrolled over 430 Primary and Secondary schools to the Young Leaders Awards, empowering some 49,000 young people to put leadership into action and make a difference in other people's lives through acts of service and community volunteering.