Award-winning volunteer to dedicate more time to anti-bullying in 2019

Tuesday 01 January 2019

An “inspirational” local volunteer and health student has pledged even more of his time to ending bullying in schools in 2019 as he reflects on his achievements this year.

At only 17-years-old, Tom Hughes has been recognised by the Prime Minister and the Princess Royal amongst others for his charity work.

Tom joined St. John Ambulance in 2009 when he was eight and his continued dedication to his volunteering has earned him the prestigious Diana Award as well as the position of Youth Ambassador for the organisation. 

Now a student of health and social care, Tom is looking ahead to the positive change he can bring about in 2019 within his work to stop bullying in Jersey’s schools. 

Tom wrote about his ambitions for next year as well as his achievements to date for Express…

What was your key achievement in 2018?

2018 has been a fantastic year for me. I have got to work with The Diana Award at loads of events across the United Kingdom, I’ve been styled by Italian Fashion House & Haute Couture brand, Gucci - twice. I’ve also had the opportunity to work with HSBC. I’ve attended many St. John Ambulance Events too.  

I am very proud to have been recognised by Prime Minister May, with the 992nd Point of Light Award for my volunteering, I am also honoured to of been awarded The Sovereign’s Award by The Queen, which was presented to me by The Princess Royal for my continued work with St. John Ambulance.

Pictured: Tom being presented the Sovereign's Award by HRH Princess Anne earlier this year.

What do you want to achieve in 2019?

I am looking forward to 2019, so I can continue my work with St John Ambulance and The Diana Award. I hope to work with The Minister and Assistant Minister of Education and do some more Anti-Bullying Ambassador Training in the island. 

At the start of the year, I had spoken to some parents of various schools and they said how their child had experienced bullying and the school wasn't really doing anything about it. This sparked an idea with me as I knew that The Diana Award runs an Anti-Bullying Ambassador program for schools which is primarily aimed at students. I thought it would be great to see if I could bring them to Jersey to do some training… and after months of planning and contacting schools, they came over in June and ran some training. 

Pictured: Tom attending the St. John Ambulance Everyday Heroes Awards 2018 with Diana Award CEO Tessy Ojo.

There was a Primary School Training Day and a Secondary School Training day which were both extremely successful. I had invited various dignitaries and politicians to attend and it was great that The Education Minister, Senator Tracey Vallois & Assistant Education Minister, Deputy Jeremy Macon were able to attend and were very impressed and supportive of the training. This lead to me working with both of them on Anti-Bullying and as a result we were able to send 20+ students and teachers to London for Anti-Bullying Week to learn about new ways of combating bullying and also getting to hear from celebrities about their experiences. As a result of the support of Tracey and Jeremy we have been able to raise the profile of tackling bulling in schools. We also have loads more in the pipeline for 2019.

I would also like to try and get some more young people from across the Channel Islands recognised with A Diana Award. I also, hope to be able to work with Gucci again. I am also going to be working with HSBC and The Diversity Network. I’m also looking at possibly participating in some Summits and Conferences too.

What are your plans for Christmas and the New Year?

I may be working over Christmas and New Year at the Hospital or other health setting; however, when I'm not I am going to be relaxing with my family and friends.