A 10-year-old girl from Richmond in South West London is being recognised at The British Citizen Youth Awards, now in its 10th year, after raising more than £8,000 for charity.
first became involved with children’s charity Spread a Smile after spending a day volunteering with her mother at the start of her summer holidays Vidhi Saurav, helping to put labels on books destined for hospital wards.
After realising that that the charity did not have enough funding for its next round of library books, she decided she would try to raise the money herself as a challenge for her ninth birthday.
Over the following ten weeks, she completed 500 skips every day, amounting to around 35,000 – 38,000 skips, while also baking and selling more than 500 cupcakes and handmade macarons in parks, at stations and wherever she could find willing customers. She also applied for grants, wrote a letter to the Royal Family and approached businesses for support, eventually surpassing her original £4,000 target and raising more than £6,000 during the campaign. The additional funds went towards presents for the Christmas hampers distributed by Spread a Smile.
A thoughtful initiative launched by Vidhi is helping to ensure children, families and hospital staff have access to food when they need it most. The snack station, currently operating at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, is stocked by Vidhi, with hospital staff distributing snacks across the wards. She now hopes to expand the initiative to other hospitals.
The idea was inspired by a personal experience earlier this year, when Vidhi was rushed to hospital. With no cafés or vending machines open, her younger brother became hungry. A nurse stepped in, offering her brother a biscuit from her own lunchbox. This act of kindness inspired Vidhi to create the snack station, helping ensure patients, families and staff have access to food when they need it most.
Her efforts have now seen Vidhi named as a recipient of The British Citizen Youth Award, which, in association with Specsavers, honours young people from across the UK who have made a positive impact on their communities and wider society.
Vidhi said: “I feel proud and grateful to receive this award. I never expected that something which started as trying to raise money for books for children in hospital would grow into so many different projects.
“I know from my own experience that being in hospital can be scary and difficult, not just for children but for their families too, so I want to do whatever I can to make things a little easier and bring them some comfort and happiness. I hope I can keep growing my projects, take the snack stations to more hospitals and inspire other young people to see that even a small idea can make a big difference.”
Vidhi, along with other inspirational young people from across the country, will be presented with the BCyA Medal of Honour at The Palace of Westminster on 29 October, with recipients invited to use the post-nominals ‘BCyA’ as a legacy of their achievements and endeavours.
Mike Faulkner, Director of the BCyA, said: “For 10 years we have been recognising the incredible achievements of young people across the country with The British Citizen Youth Awards. These selfless individuals have shown kindness and commitment to a multitude of causes, raising much needed funds and awareness for the wider community. It’s a privilege to oversee the awards and shine a light on the amazing work they’ve done.”
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2027 medal presentations, register online at www.britishcitizenyouthawards.co.uk.
