A THURROCK youngster who has always put others in front of her own needs, despite having to combat a serious illness for most of her life, has been honoured with a Jack Petchey award.

The awards from the charity set up by altruistic self-made millionaire Sir Jack Petchey honour young people across London and Essex who are doing inspirational things to help their community, offering motivation to others and truly showcasing the positive things young people do every day.

No-one epitomises that spirit more than 17-year-old Katie Marie Davies, from Stanford-le-Hope.

Katie has suffered from a heart condition all of her life and the family have dedicated themselves to supporting those who have helped them, particularly the Royal Brompton Hospital which has played a big part in transforming Katie's life.

At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the hospital was made into a hub to treat those most affected by the virus. The Brompton Foundation set up a crisis appeal to help support staff, get PPE and funding essential machinery to aid patients struggling to breathe.

Katie, who has Ehlers-Danlos which is a rare connective tissue disorder, was shielding over the lockdown, but knew she needed to help (see Thurrock Nub News story here). Using social media she promoted multiple fundraising activities, including taking part in the 2.6 challenge in the garden and encouraging other family members to do the same remotely.

In addition, Katie started to make pocket hearts out of resin for people to give to the friends and family they could not hug during the lockdown, and asked for a £1 donation for each heart.

Katie has raised almost £2,000 so far and is trying to push further before lockdown is over. Katie is currently studying her A-levels and wants to become a nurse in the future to always help other people.

Katie said: "I am so grateful for this award, it means so much to me as when I was doing my fundraising I never expected any sort of award for it!"

Katie was awarded £50 from the Foundation and a letter from Sir Jack to congratulate her on going the extra mile to help others in this lockdown.

Trudy Kilcullen MBE, CEO of the Jack Petchey Foundation said: "At the Jack Petchey Foundation, young people inspire us all the time with the incredible work they do and that has not stopped in the current situation.

"We want to recognise more young people across London and Essex doing inspirational things to help their community and hope these Community Awards will motivate others and truly showcase the positive things young people do every day."

"A young person can be nominated for any actions they are doing to help vulnerable family members, the local area, school or youth group during the COVID-19 situation as long as these abide by the government guidelines for social distancing.

"These could include: delivering groceries to a vulnerable neighbour, creating content to inspire others (e.g. artwork, videos and blog posts), helping a youth group to adapt their work online, contacting local isolated people on the phone, and supporting a parent/friend keyworker."

The Jack Petchey Foundation has worked with schools and youth groups across Thurrock since 2008 providing £1,452,387 in funding to schools and youth clubs in the local area.