Grace is an inspiration for a sign that times canchange

IT IS not every schoolgirl who can chat about kidding around with Princes Wills and Harry, or stealing the First Minister’s chair, or meeting famous actresses and street dance stars.

But Grace Warnock is no ordinary schoolgirl.

The inspirational winner of the Evening Times Scotswoman of the Year Editor’s Award is proof you don’t have to be a grown-up to care deeply about issues that affect people.

The 12-year-old from Prestonpans in East Lothian is the driving force behind Grace’s Sign, a powerful campaign raising awareness of invisible disabilities.

Grace was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, a painful inflammatory bowel condition, when she was nine.

The condition means she often has to make bathroom stops when out and about and she noticed strangers often threw her unpleasant looks and nasty comments whenever she used an accessible toilet.

“It wasn’t very nice – people were horrible,” she says, matter-of-factly. “It wasn’t just me. Just after my diagnosis, I spoke to other people and we had all experienced the same thing.

“Me and my mum went for lunch and I decided I wanted to do something about it. I thought a better sign might help, so I sketched an idea for one on a napkin.”

That simple sketch became the design which is now appearing outside accessible toilets all over Scotland.

As well as a person in a wheelchair, it includes a standing person with a red heart, symbolising both invisible conditions and the message Grace wants to get across.

“I want people to have a heart and think before they say something rude, because not all disabilities are easy to see,” she says. “I want people not to judge.”

Grace enlisted the support of her mum, Judith and her MSP Iain Gray to get her campaign off the ground.

Iain explains: “Grace is an incredible young woman , with passion, determination and a real desire to help others. And she is not even a teenager yet.

“I am very used to people coming to me with problems – Grace came to me with a problem and a solution and we set about trying to make it happen.

“She is an incredible ambassador for Scotland’s Year of Young People, and a worthy winner of the Evening Times Scotswoman of the Year Editor’s Award.”