Journalist with a vision for change
A YOUNG man from the Cynon Valleys is honoured to be a recipeient of a Diana Award.
Brad Williams, 22, from Mountain Ash, is to receive The Diana Award for going above and beyond in his daily life to create and sustain positive change.
The award is the highest accolade a young person can achieve for social action or humanitarian efforts. Established in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, it has the support of both her sons, the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex.
Brad has a relentless passion for supporting his community. Following devastating floods in his South Wales community, Brad was instrumental in establishing an emergency response which collected 40 cases of essential items for families affected.
An aspiring journalist, Brad uses his own news channel ‘Cynon Valley News’, youth-led magazines and his volunteer hours at GTFM, a charity radio station, to engage young people in community action and volunteering opportunities.
This has helped raised thousands of pounds for charity and inspired his peers to do the same.
Brad’s work continues, recently using his platform to petition the local authority to improve road safety near a primary school.
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 change-makers for their generation.
“For over 20 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.”
Award recipients have been put forward by adults who know the young people in a professional capacity and recognised their efforts as a positive contribution to society.
Through a rigorous nomination process, these nominators had to demonstrate the nominee’s impact in five key areas – Vision, Social Impact, Inspiring Others, Youth Leadership, and Service Journey.
There are 12 Diana Award judging panels representing each UK region or nation, and a further three panels representing countries outside of the UK.
Each panel consists of three judges – one young person, an education or youth work professional, and a business or government representative.
The panels have an important main purpose – to determine which nominations from each UK region or nation will receive The Diana Award.
Nominations are judged using the Criteria Guide and Scoring Guide, which have been created to measure the quality of youth social action.