November 6, 2024
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A cadet from 1st Battalion The Highlanders Army Cadet Force has received a prestigious award for her work helping young people from Armed Forces families.
Cadet Lance Corporal Isabella Turner (17), from Elgin, was presented with a British Citizen Youth Award (BCyA) by Dame Mary Perkins, Patron of the British Citizen Awards. She is pictured above with Dame Mary (right) and event host Kimberly Wyatt (left).
The ceremony – honouring young people aged 18 and under who are doing “extraordinary work in their community” – took place at the Palace of Westminster in London on 17 October.
Cadet Lance Corporal Turner outside the Palace of Westminster.
Recognising the difficulties children face during the transition from military to civilian life, and understanding the stresses related to coping without military support, inspired the Elgin Detachment cadet to co-produce the Tornado of Change Project.
The project welcomes children and makes suggestions to help them make the transition more easily. Isabella also supports the Your Mind Matters project which provides wellbeing and mental health support to serving, Reservist and Veteran children. She co-produced a Your Mind Matters hub which provides access to support, online quizzes, podcasts and more. These resources are also useful to parents, educators and professionals.
The 2024 Award recipients with host Kimberly Wyatt (back, left) and Cadet Lance Corporal Turner (back, centre).
For the past four years Isabella has also been part of a Forces children’s book club named Page Turners. Here, Isabella helped develop a ‘book journal’ and was then invited to participate in multiple projects for Forces Children Scotland including the Ruby Boots project which focused on living as a Veteran family.
Dame Mary Perkins said: “The British Citizen Youth Award recipients are very special individuals. These young people all go above and beyond for others with selfless acts of kindness and community spirit with no thought or expectation of praise or reward.”
The awards were hosted by singer and actress Kimberly Wyatt, a Patron of the British Citizen Youth Award.
She said: “Many of these kids have faced turmoil in their own lives yet still choose to be selfless and help others. I applaud you and your families for your hard work and dedication. You are the future, and your brilliant endeavours will make a difference!”
The British Citizen Youth Award, now in its ninth year, honoured 21 young people from across the UK that have made a difference in their communities and to society.
Each inspirational young person is invited to use the post-nominals BCyA as a legacy of their achievements and commitment to others.
