York students honoured for work in helping others

9:30am Saturday 10th May 2008

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CITY of York Council has honoured four students for going the extra mile in helping others.

In presenting the awards at the Mansion House, city council chief executive Bill McCarthy said volunteering was about taking the risk to do something positive for somebody else.

It was also about enhancing civic pride and helping the vulnerable by reaching the parts that formal agencies sometimes could not reach.

The father-of-five said the youth of today tended to get a bad press, so it was an honour to publicly recognise the achievements of these four volunteers who represented the best of British youth.

Each received £50 plus another £50 to donate to a charity of their choice.

Dan Foster, of York College, was nominated by St Leonard's Hospice, in York, for the volunteering work and fundraising he has done there. He has also taught pupils to read at Woodthorpe Primary School through the college's volunteering network.

Janet Morley, the hospice's director of fundraising, said: "Dan had been a huge asset for us with his hard work and enthusiasm and the way he has enthused others to help out at the hospice."

Hannah Headden, a social sciences student, won the volunteering prize at the University of York for her work alongside prisoners.

The volunteering prize at Askham Bryan College was won by agriculture student Tina Kirby for encouraging colleagues to help out at the college's farm unit, while Louise Rutterford, a history student at York St John University, was honoured for her involvement in various projects, including creating a wildlife garden and doing outreach work for York Samaritans.

Dan's charity of choice was St Leonard's Hospice; Hannah chose the Karen Hilltribes Trust, which works in Thailand; Tina decided to make a donation to Wakefield Hospice, while Louise chose York Samaritans.

The awards ceremony was organised by Higher York, which is a partnership between the city council, York College, the University of York, York St John University and Askham Bryan College.