A group of students from holbrook's Royal Hospital School have been named among the winners of this year's Suffolk HOPE awards.

Thee winners were announced by Suffolk Constabulary, in partnership with Suffolk County Council and Suffolk's Community Safety Partnerships, today.

Following the launch of the awards in March, a number of nominations were put forward by local schools and the community to help recognise and celebrate those individuals and groups who have made positive and outstanding contributions to their communities during 2020/2021.

RHS were named in the group nomination with KS4, Year 11, students Mia Scowen, Sapphire Beard-Griffith and Tallulah Ironmonger the winners of the Teamwork section for their 'Cup of Correspondence' project which helped tackled loneliness within the community during lockdown.

All three year 11 students worked on the Service Programme at RHS. As part of the service, they wrote letters on behalf of the Rural Coffee Caravan, which were delivered to those who were isolated, elderly or vulnerable.

The Cup of Correspondence service was also officially launched later in the year, in order to give the opportunity for those receiving the cards/letters a chance to reply. It is hoped the project will continue.

The HOPE Awards were first initiated off the back of National Hate Crime Awareness Week in October last year.

A judging panel with representatives from the force, SCC, Suffolk's Community Safety Partnerships, Suffolk's High Sheriff, PCC, Suffolk Hate Crime Network members, Suffolk FA and the East Anglian Daily Times met recently to select the award winners.

Over the past few weeks, the force's School Liaison Officers, in partnership with other representatives, have been visiting each school to present those recognised with prizes, medals and certificates. The overall Suffolk Hope Awards winner and the winning schools also received a trophy.

As part of the prizes, the three winning schools will also be given the opportunity to enjoy a theatre performance about Hate Crime by AlterEgo.

Due to ongoing restrictions as part of the pandemic, it has meant that sadly, an awards event is not able to take place this year.

The other winners are as follows:

Diversity:

Northgate High School Sixth Form, Ipswich – group nomination – Eric Jackaman, Isaac Amer, Zohal Karim, Jobe Gadsen, Felicity Venables, Helena Pettit, Lydia Gravener, Jaspreet Digpal, Eleanor Clarke and Eva Andrews- Miller

The Northgate Diversity and Community Group designed and produced a resource to support staff, students and parents in understanding LGBTQ+ language and history. As part of the work, they produced an LGBTQ+ Language Toolkit which they worked on for months, conducting extensive research and working on it on top of their A-Level studies.

Respect and Kindness:

Ipswich Academy, Ipswich – KS3 – Year 7 – Ralfs Knesis

Ralfs helped another student when they were being bullied. He introduced the pupil to new friends and became their best friend. This in turn has helped the student grow in confidence and they feel supported by Ralfs.

King Edward CEVC Upper School, Bury St Edmunds – KS4 – Year 10 - Daniel Marshall

Daniel helped deliver the Lawshall parish magazine when the Coronavirus outbreak meant those who previously were able, could no longer do it due to being clinically vulnerable. By Daniel delivering the magazines, he ensured that all local households received key messages and details of all the local support that was available to them during the pandemic.

Teamwork:

Northgate High School, Ipswich – group nomination – KS3 – Year 9 – Esther Eboka, Lily-Mae Clarke, Valencia Aliaj, Ava Turner, Ella Faulkner, Robin Macrae, Akshara Keerthi, Evie Chenery, Molly Cook, Samuel Newbould, Sophia Dawdry-Wall, Anwen Palmer, Esme Chapelle, Isobel Sturgeon, Emily Chapman, Lujain Alnahas, Sneha Sathian, Sonia Farshchy, Joao Vidal, Kendrick Garba, Megan Cobbold and Nyasha Mangoma.

The year 9 Dora Love Prize students have worked tirelessly on their projects to reshape the school curriculum to ensure it reflects, celebrates and values the diversity of the students. Their projects include but are not limited to, working with the police to develop a coordinated approach to dealing with Hate Crime across the entire school; working on the Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) video for the Suffolk County Council HMD event in January 2021 – Themes of "Stand Together" and "Be the Light in the Darkness"; developing a set of School Pledges that all staff, students and visitors to the school sign up to and many more.

Determination:

Bungay High School - KS3 – Year 8 – Chloe Stammers

Chloe was nominated because she does not allow her medical conditions, Cystic Fibrosis and Scoliosis, to deter or hinder her work ethic. She was proactive in raising awareness and planning the campaign - Loud and Clear, which focusses on sexual abuse, assault, discrimination and violence and the response in school. Chloe is now working with an established group in order to plan an awareness week to help spread important messages.

Thomas Gainsborough School, Great Cornard, KS3 – Year 7 – Grace Secker

Grace joined the school in year 7 and is suffering from a brain tumour, which has meant visiting the hospital numerous times throughout lockdown. Despite this, Grace always checks that her friends are okay, she is always smiling, she never complains, she just battles through it and just gets on with it. 10 out of 14 subject teachers graded her exemplary for her approach to lessons. Grace is also described as being a role model and an inspiration.

Northgate High School, Ipswich – KS4 – Year 12 – Alicia Stewart

Alicia Stewart has worked tirelessly to set up and run the School Food Bank which has been invaluable in supporting our families during what has been a difficult six months of hardship and stress for many. Alicia has done it all whilst studying for her GCSEs and dealing with remote learning. As part of the food bank, over 600 hampers have been delivered by the Northgate food bank to families in our community.

Overall Suffolk HOPE Awards winner – Determination:

Finborough School, Stowmarket – KS4 – Year 12 – Phoebe Maddever

Since being appointed head girl, Phoebe has taken it upon herself to act as a mentor to many students and has been a trusted ear and sounding board to the student community. After one specific conversation with a girl who showed her a photoshopped picture on Instagram of a woman with an unrealistic body shape, Phoebe decided she wanted to run a wellbeing programme for senior girls. This took the form of five sessions, the first was led by her and was all about body shape and how over the years, different body shapes have been fashionable. Phoebe also touched on the impact social media has on defining what a realistic body shape looks like. The feedback received from the was extremely positive and Phoebe is now looking to develop a programme for boys and to run a second programme for girls in the summer term.

West Hope School winner: Finborough School, Stowmarket

South Hope School winner: Northgate High School, Ipswich

East Hope School winner: Bungay High School, Bungay

Honourable mentions:

Determination - Samuel Ward Academy, Haverhill – KS4 – Year 10 –Theo Boxall

During lockdown, Theo set up his own newspaper round business, delivering newspapers to the elderly in his village. He did this while balancing virtual learning. Theo continues to run his own business while attending school. This demonstrates his determination, respect and kindness.

Respect and kindness - Thomas Gainsborough School, Great Cornard – KS4 – Year 11 – Phoebe West

Phoebe has volunteered at Seasaw, the local animal rescue shelte, for the past two-and-a-half-years. To help support them further in lockdown, she sold masks made by another volunteer, making £200. She also collected other donations, such as towels and sheets. Phoebe also came into school during lockdown to support and be with her friend who has diabetes. Phoebe is also part of the Suffolk Young Carers scheme and helps to look after her younger siblings.

Phoebe Maddever, overall Suffolk HOPE Award winner, said: "Initially, when my tutor wanted to nominate me for the award, I was hesitant. I thought there are so many incredible people out there doing such great work, that I can't compete with that. After a few weeks of her persuading me I allowed her to put in a nomination! I was so surprised when I found out I had won.

"By doing my programme, if I helped just one person, in any way then I'm grateful. Everyone deserves to feel confident within themselves and have access to the education they need about fuelling their body and exercising. Also, realising that a lot of things you might see on social media isn't reality and you don't have to look or follow what they do.

"The Suffolk Hope Awards are a great way for young people to be recognised for the things they are doing and hopefully, the awards can inspire others to do good too!"

Assistant Chief Constable Rob Jones said: "Wow! All the Suffolk Hope Award nominations were fantastic, showing courage, determination and creativity. The winners are all heroes in my eyes – young people who overcame their own challenges to help improve the lives of others."

Andrew Reid, Cabinet Member for Public Health, Public Protection and Communities, at Suffolk County Council said: "This past year has been incredibly tough on our communities, but there has also been a real sense of coming together and taking care of each other.

"We have seen some truly encouraging demonstrations of resilience, compassion and respect from our young people. It gives me great pride to recognise these inspirational individuals through the Hope Awards and celebrate the contribution they make every day within our communities. Congratulations to everyone who was nominated."

Suffolk's Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore said: "I am honoured to have been involved in the judging of the Suffolk Hope Awards. Celebrating achievement is important to us all but I think it's particularly important to celebrate the achievement of young people making a positive difference in our communities.

"There is so much good work being done by young people right across the county and this often goes unnoticed. The Suffolk Hope awards are a fantastic opportunity for us to herald some of the outstanding young people we know and admire.

"The awards reflect determination, team work, diversity, respect and kindness which are important qualities and it was heart-warming to hear so many fantastic examples in the nominations. I'd like to congratulate all the winners and everyone who was nominated, you really do make Suffolk proud."

Councillor Joanna Spicer, Chair, Community Safety Partnership, which includes Babergh said: "West Suffolk Community Safety Partnership were honoured to be involved in the Hope Awards, well done to everyone who was nominated – the resilience and determination young people across Suffolk have shown during a very difficult year has been remarkable."

To find out how the constabulary supported Hate Crime Awareness Week in 2020, visit: http://www.suffolk.police.uk/news/latest-news/suffolk-constabulary-supports-hate-crime-awareness-week-nohateinsuffolk