Congratulations Alice Rath!

The Diana Award

The Diana Award is the only charity set up in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales and her belief that young people have the power to change the world. Their Anti-Bullying work encourages change in attitudes and behaviours for young people by young people, their mentoring schemes guide change for some of the UK's most vulnerable young people and their flagship award programme recognises the young people driving selfless change across the world.

What is the award?

The award is the most prestigious accolade a young person aged 9-25 years can receive for their social action or humanitarian work. This is the longest running award for young people through a solely retrospective nomination process which means young people do not work towards the award but demonstrate their suitability through their actions, without any expectation of reward.

Timeline to the award

Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) served as my introduction into the healthcare system, spending 12 years as a patient of the gastroenterology department for an ongoing rare condition which went undiagnosed. I was so grateful for the treatment I received, but I noted some flaws in the system, such as the transitional period from paediatric to adult care. For me and many other young people, it felt unstructured and daunting.

I was invited to join the GOSH Young People's Forum (YPF) when it was first founded in 2012. So at the age of 14, I became empowered to talk about adolescent healthcare and advocate for improvements to the system.

In 2016, I joined the NHS Youth Forum, representing healthcare interests for young people at a national level. Whilst there's still a long way to go until everyone receives the same quality of care, I'm confident in the progress the forum has made.

In 2018 I was grateful to be elected as GOSH Governor, representing patients outside of London. Leveraging this position, I voiced issues concerning young people at board level, which is something I strived to do throughout my voluntary career.

Most recently, in 2019, I was elected as Trustee for Crohn's & Colitis UK. Living with an undiagnosed gastroenterological condition, I consider myself a close ally to those living with Crohn's and Colitis. I'm immensely proud to become part of the board and to be given such a fantastic opportunity to help shape the organisation.