Heather Bryson – British Citizen Youth Award Ambassador and Inspiring Volunteer
11 year old Heather Bryson BCyA, has been making waves with her volunteering efforts! 
During the pandemic, Heather dedicated her time and effort, not only to raising money for charity, but to helping and supporting others: despite various personal challenges (recently changing schools, a fractured arm (the 2nd in a matter of months) and the loss of two close family members, Heather, just 7 years old at the time, found focus recycling pre-loved cups/saucers into bird-feeders and broken necklaces into Little Lockdown Angels. These were sold, along with other recycled projects to raise money for Dementia services. https://www.facebook.com/lockdowncraftsbyh
Heather’s focus then moved to working with NHS Physiotherapists. Both Heather and her Dad started to produce chair exercise videos for older people. She provided live zoom exercise classes for care homes/providers/individuals, especially people living with dementia. This resulted in a Sir Captain Tom 100 Challenge on 11th June 2021 where over 160 global care homes took part in her live chair exercise sessions. Care providers were encouraged to sponsor their residents, one care home raised over £2000. The recorded sessions can be found on her YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUKFEBgehYIY6qo7qvS-Wyg
After a series of water tragedies in 2021, Heather became involved in promoting water safety. She a qualified RLSS UK Rookie Lifeguard. She has now gained her “Speciality” and “Masters” awards and continues to work with RLSS UK to encourage the younger generation to learn First Aid and water safety skills. This will contribute to hopefully saving lives in the future. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=284418133720358&set=a.206813304814175
Heather has picked up numerous awards along the way – most notably, receiving a British Citizens Youth Award (basically a Junior OBE); at the beginning of this year, Heather was formally awarded the BCyA Ambassador role. Check out this clip on YouTube to find out more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5pfWjfz2rY
Since becoming an ambassador for the award, Heather has been on a mission, not only to promote the award, but to encourage others to engage in volunteering within their own communities.
Her remit involves connecting with communities across Scotland, to encourage people/organisations to nominate their unsung heroes for a BCA (adults) or BCyA (children).
She’s had an amazing response so far from numerous organisations in Scotland and hopes to connect with even more. As an Ambassador, she hopes to get the opportunity to speak at meetings or events (in person or by zoom) with regards to her own charity recycling/intergenerational work, her awards and most importantly how to nominate YOUR LOCAL HEROES.
If you can think of any suitable events that Heather could attend or you are a voluntary organisation that would like to find out more about the British Citizen Awards, please get in touch with emma.mclean@volunteerglasgow.org who will pass on your details to Heather and her Mum, Deborah. The only way Heather is going to be able to fulfil her role is with your help, enabling her to connect with communities across Scotland.
