The first winner in the Lancashire Telegraph Community Heroes Awards 2021 has been announced this week.

Year 12 student Sahil Usman, has been named Young person of the Year!

Sahil, has been an inspiration to many young people since putting together hampers for the elderly and vulnerable in March 2020. He went out of his way despite his health worries to put together food hampers after he said he was ‘made sick’ by the panic buying in advance of the first lockdown which saw supermarkets across the country left with empty shelves.

Sahil said: “I don’t do this for the awards but they help to push me to do more as it’s nice to be recognised for what I do. I do this because I want to help people who are vulnerable and elderly. I can relate to the community out there who I help and I know how they feel because they had to isolate in the pandemic and so did I. I’m happy what I did helped people when they needed it.”

The Lancashire Telegraph Community Heroes Young Person of the Year Award, sponsored by Hanson, recognises a young person who has shown resilience beyond their years over the past 18 months. People were asked to nominate a young person who carried out voluntary work, performed a carer role in their family or demonstrated independence and maturity while their key worker parents/guardians battled coronavirus.

From everyone here at QEGS, congratulations, you are an asset to the school!