When a charity is created in the name of an individual it is always hard to steer that charity as time moves on. What would they have done, what were their core values, what mattered to them in their lifetime? Assessing that 15 years on.
So what is the Diana Award about in 2014?
To be honest I don’t think there has been a more exciting time. It is all it started out as and so much more. This is truly a charity with the ability to evolve and adapt. In times like these those are important qualities.
It’s about - Inclusion, community, equality, opportunity.
The training and more importantly, the empowerment of young people to help other young people.
When a charity helps one person that’s fantastic and noble but it’s quite another thing when a charity teaches that young person to help another young person. That is a great strategy, then you create a chain reaction.
In the spirit of Princess Diana, The DA is about standing up for the bullied and the marginalized. I have seen first hand the amazing work that’s being done. I’ve led workshops with some of the many teenagers involved, I’ve seen them crying over being bullied and I’ve also watched their friends come alongside them offering comfort and support, gathering what they are learning and taking it back into their schools and communities.
It’s in times like these, where there is financial hardship, that core values suddenly count, sharing, listening, love, patience, kindness, unity – suddenly these words and values warrant rediscovery. The Diana Award is committed to pouring out these values into our young.
It is my great hope that many of the people who share those same core values will get to join in what’s already happening here by becoming FRIENDS OF THE DIANA AWARD.
We each have currency, for some that currency is money but for others it may be that you have the ability to open doors, for others it’s time, your experience, expertise or influence. Your currency has the power to change and transform the lives of young people.
And there can be no greater thing we can do than to change and transform the life of a young person whilst empowering that young person to do the same.
