Teenage refugee wins a volunteer award

A young Syrian refugee who has settled in Hamilton has been honoured with a prestigious volunteer award.

Mohamad Najjar fled the war in Syria with his parents but sadly lost his dad to a heart attack before they reached safety and the opportunity to settle in South Lanarkshire.

The 18-year-old has since been determined to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor and has been volunteering at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) store in Hamilton.

He was, last month, given the title of BHF UK Young Volunteer of the Year.

South Lanarkshire Council have helped support Mohamad and his mother as they build a new life in Scotland.

And the council hosted a celebration event to honour the young Syrian refugee being named as a British Heart Foundation Volunteer of the Year.

Depute chair of Housing and Technical Resources, Councillor Stephanie Callaghan, said:“we are absolutely delighted that Mohamad has received this well-deserved recognition as the BHF UK Young Volunteer of the Year. He is a very hard working and committed young man who is determined to make a real contribution to society.”

The council’s executive director of Housing and Technical Resources, Daniel Lowe, said:“mohamad became involved with the British Heart Foundation as a volunteer after our refugee resettlement team supported him in applying to work at his local branch so we are very proud to see what a fantastic job he is doing with them.

“He saw volunteering as a great chance for him to improve his English so that he can pursue his dream of becoming a doctor and has now secured paid work two days a week as a furniture restorer at the store.”

Mohamad has said that settling into a new country was a challenging experience at first, but volunteering has helped him make new friends and feel part of his local community.

Annie Cunningham, regional manager at the British Heart Foundation, said:“in a relatively short space of time, Mohamad has become an integral member of our Hamilton store team, always on hand to help with a smile for everyone.

“His hard working, friendly nature is so inspiring after everything he has gone through that we weren’t surprised when he was chosen as the face of our national volunteer recruitment campaign. We hope his story will help shake off the stereotypes that surround volunteering and encourage people to discover for themselves the life changing effects of becoming a volunteer.”