Tale guide

A very different country

In the UK, when someone passionately pursues a vision dedicated to the wellbeing of others, they are revered, but when that someone is no more than a child, the community ensures that the stars of the universe dance in unison.

One cannot but admire the way the people of the UK embrace a collective desire to aid and support each other. It is certainly one of the most endearing traits I’ve encountered since our arrival.

I will admit that generalisation is unwise. The world is a dangerous place and there are evil and dangerous people that live amongst us.

I also recognise that my impression could be influenced by the people of the small and beautiful village in the Welsh countryside we live in, where one could argue that the residents would ordinarily demonstrate a closer sense of community than those in the big city.

Having said that there is no escaping the inherent sense of love and caring that one encounters in the everyday lives of the people around us. Above all there is majority held view that integrity is consistent across over 90% of the population and indeed, there is an opinion that since the devasting effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the sense of goodwill towards others has grown and matured significantly.

The consequences of such intrinsic traits on these islands manifest in the way children are brought up to care for their families, neighbours and fellow travellers and coupled with the quality of education which inspires free thinking and accomplishment, the results are often utterly amazing.

The other evening, we came across an ITV television broadcast of an annual ‘Pride of Britain Awards’ that took place on the 4th of November in London.

Almost immediately, the stories behind the awards brought another dimension to my appreciation of the culture of caring for one’s neighbour that is so pronounced here.

So extraordinary was the experience that I wanted to share a few of the very unique and personal exploits that brought a tear to many an eye on the night.

I have naturally drawn from the Daily Mail’s reports on their Pride of Britain awards which you can see on www.prideofbritain.com

Harmonie-Rose Allen

First to be recognised was this seven-year-old quadruple amputee who at ten months old was diagnosed with meningococcal septicaemia that damaged her arms, legs and nose and who had no more than a 10% chance of survival.

But she walked out onto the stage with singular determination, a bionic arm and two prosthetic legs and a smile that lit the heavens up.

It turns out that from a very early age, she decided that she would overcome all of those physical limitations and regain control of her life.

She underwent more than ten operations before completing the 2019 Bath half marathon raising £6,450 for a children’s charity.

During the Covid lockdown she completed six challenges of running, drawing, swimming, gymnastics, singing and jumping. She tackled all of these twenty-six times and raised £76, 000 for ‘Meningitis Now’ after her doctors said she could never do them because of her disabilities.

This little hero turned eight yesterday (7 November)!

Max Woosey – the tent boy

Max is an eleven-year-old who once had a friend for life in his neighbour Rick Abbot.

When Rick was struck down with terminal cancer, he gave Max his tent and told him to go and have an adventure.

When Rick passed away, Max decided to camp out to raise money for the hospice that had cared for his friend during his last days. Ever since, and for eighteen months now, Max has been sleeping outside in his tent.

Every night he collects up his teddies and beano and heads for the garden.

He has slept outside for over five hundred nights braving sub-zero frosts, rainstorms and heatwaves and has so far raised over £640,000 for the North Devon Hospice.

Hughie Higginson and Freddie Xavi

These two young chaps are only eleven years old but have already raised over £220,000 for the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital for which they were given the GMB Young Fundraiser award.

It started when young Hughie was diagnosed with acute leukaemia in 2019 and began a three-year treatment program at the hospital.

He wanted to raise funds for the doctors and nurses who have been looking after him, so he called on his friend to take up the challenge to run two kilometres very day in the fifty days to Christmas as part of the hospital charity’s fundraising walk.

Freddie finished the last two kilometres on Christmas morning and Hugh summoned all his strength to join his friend over the final stretch and cross the line together.

Amy and Ella Leek – Environment Champion Award

These two teenage sisters took it on themselves to form a social action group called ‘Kids Against Plastic’ which is now a registered charity.

It promotes actions against plastic pollution across business, schools and individuals to be way more ‘plastic clever’ and stop using single-use plastic where possible.

So far more than 1000 schools and 50 cafes, businesses, festivals and councils have signed up.

The two girls have also spoken to leaders in the aviation industry, UK politicians and at the United Nations Young Activists Summit in 2019.

They’ve personally collected 100, 000 pieces of rubbish every year and have published a book called ‘Be Plastic Clever’.

Hassan Alkhawam – Prince’s Trust Young Achiever award

At 23 years of age Hassan was given refugee status in Northern Ireland together with his family, after they fled war torn Syria.

He began studies in Software engineering at university and worked as a key worker in the supermarket chain, Tesco during the pandemic.

He had to learn English from scratch, and he took part in the Prince’s ‘Trust Get-into-Retail’ programme designed to develop skills with which to realise employment.

Apart from his studies and his job, he is working as a voluntary director of a local charity that supports vulnerable members of the refugee and migrant communities to settle into their new environment.

He has completed courses in advocacy and interpreting so that he can continue to help his community in every way possible.

These were just the youngsters who demonstrated such compassion and determination to make the world a better place.

There were another seven awards recognising these recipients for their exceptional and selfless contributions to their fellow man.

• Stephen Warton

• Gee Walker

• Rob and Charlotte Allen – special recognition

• The Oxford Vaccine Team of British scientists

• Rebecca Carless and Jamie McCallum

• Mark Ormond

• Rosemary Cox

But these are just the tip of the iceberg. Behind them are so many more day-to-day heroes that this community of nations produce every single year.

Whether factually accurate or not, the impression one gets is that most people, by virtue of their own actions, inspire each of us to reach out and help.

Amongst the many examples are the courtesy afforded fellow road users; the way that people make way for the elderly; neighbours look out for each other; shop keepers, builders, plumbers, postmen and women, garbage collectors, and teachers, police and medical people and so many more, who are not only skilled but take enormous pride in doing what they are required to do with dedication, passion and care, and almost always with a smile on their faces and in their hearts.

This United Kingdom is a very different world.