On Friday 15th July thoughtful children from Yearsley Grove Primary school decided to come up with a way to thank nurses who work tirelessly at the York Hospital cancer ward. The children are currently participating in the Archbishop of York Young Leaders Award which empowers children to 'be the change they want to see'. They were encouraged to research charities and pick one they wanted to become ambassadors for. They spent a good while researching charity work, presenting their presentations, before we voted on our "most popular." Macmillan came top because of so many children being affected by cancer, giving them the chance to say a big thank you to those that cared for or continue to care for loved ones. On Friday they delivered baked treats to the nursing staff then ‘serenaded’ them in the main entrance of the hospital with prepared songs of thanks. These were adapted versions of Abba's Thank You for the Music and Bon Jovi’s Thank You for Loving Me. The children rewrote the lyrics to both songs to make them more personal and appropriate.

Mr Dambrauskas, year 5 teacher said

“As a teacher, it's wonderful to see such a generous and selfless idea come to fruition, directly from the children. Many of our kids' families have been affected by cancer, so it is very brave and mature of them to face their feelings head on and acknowledge the wonderful job that all nurses and doctors have done for their loved ones. They are true ambassadors for our school and certainly being the change that they want to see.”

Kate Denney, Primary Schools Lead at The Archbishop of York Youth Trust said

“The children have blown me away with their hard work and maturity. They have shown true leadership skills as well as compassionate hearts and have made a real difference. It’s children like this that give me a real hope in the future of our country.The nurses were completely blown away and a representative from the hospital summed it up nicely saying there were lots of tears but lots of smiles too!”

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To date the Youth Trust have enrolled over 370 Primary and Secondary schools to the Young Leaders Awards, empowering some 39,000 young people to put leadership into action and make a difference in other people's lives through acts of service and community volunteering.