A teenager from Croydon has been honoured with The Diana Award for her efforts to tackle social issues during lockdown.

Vanessa Sam,14, has been recognised with the highest accolade a young person can achieve for social action or humanitarian efforts.

Established in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, the award is given out by the charity of the same name and has the support of both her sons, The Duke of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex.

During lockdown, Vanessa continuously highlighted the importance of teen mental health issues and partnered with a number of organisations to motivate, encourage and inspire teens.

News Shopper: Vanessa Vanessa

She spoke virtually at schools, worked with organisations such as the ‘Young Urban Arts Foundation’ and the BBC to help tackle issues ranging from self-care in lockdown to youth knife crime.

Vanessa said her goal is to 'inspire and motivate the next generation to believe in themselves' and to encourage others to do the same.

Tessy Ojo, CEO of The Diana Award, said: “We congratulate all our new Diana Award recipients from the UK and all over the globe who are changemakers for their generation.

"We know by receiving this honour they will inspire more young people to get involved in their communities and begin their own journey as active citizens.

"For over twenty years The Diana Award has valued and invested in young people encouraging them to continue to make positive change in their communities and lives of others.”

Nominations are judged using the Criteria Guide and Scoring Guide which have been created to measure quality of youth social action.

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