Peterborough 14-year-old receives Medal of Honour for raising awareness and over £6,000 for Bloodbikes nationwide
A 14-year-old from Peterborough has received a British Citizen Youth Award Medal of Honour for the work he has done to support, raise awareness and fundraising for Bloodbikes nationwide.
Caiden Ralph from Orton Goldhay was first introduced to Blood Bike Group through Service by Emergency Response Volunteers (SERV) Suffolk and Cambridgeshire seven years ago.
He was instantly drawn to the liveried bikers and the important service they provide delivering blood, blood products, donated human milk and medicines, free of charge to local NHS Hospitals, Air Ambulance Services, milk banks and hospices.
Caiden has dedicated his time over the last seven years to raise awareness of the service. He started holding fundraising days and highlighting the charity at every opportunity.
As a keen football fan, he visited every Premiership football ground in the UK asking each local Blood Bike Group to be included in his campaign to raise awareness of their work. During this, he travelled over 5,000 miles.
Caiden also used an invitation to cut the ribbon to open a local B&Q store as a further chance to fundraise for SERV, raising £750. To date, Caiden as raised over £6,000 for SERV.
The British Citizen Youth Award (BCYA) Medal of Honour is presented to only a small number of exceptional young individuals annually.
The awards are now in their ninth year and honoured 22 young people from across the UK. Each has made a positive impact on their communities or wider society.
BCYA Director Mike Faulkner said: “We are delighted to be able to recognise these amazing individuals with a BCYA. It is both heartening and uplifting to know that so many young people are consciously contributing to causes such as the environment, education, and creating awareness and fundraising for hospitals, medical research and charities.
"The youth of today are truly the leaders of tomorrow and we are humbled that BCYA Patron Dame Mary, founder of Specsavers, has put her name to the prestigious group accolade, enabling us to broaden its recognition of young people in society.”