Making a Difference Award

Making a Difference Award!

The nominations should be made by March 20th 2026.

The awards evening will be held on April 23rd 2026 at Brandon Royal British Legion where winners will receive £100 cash, a shield and a certificate.

Summary:

The Club’s annual Making a Difference Award recognises students who have gone above and beyond to make a difference within their community. The award is open to all students aged from 11 to 16 years and we received nominations from the schools, families and the community.

We first presented the award in 2019 to a student at Breckland School.  In 2024, we extended the competition to Mildenhall College of Academy and Iceni Academy in Methwold and this year (2026), the Club were pleased to invite Thetford Academy to the Club’s award programme. Nominations are made through the academy or school and are open between December and March. After the closing date, the Club meets to review the nominations and chooses a winner from each school.

The Club continues to be very impressed by the wide variety of things the students do – from helping to care for and support parents in their business, being a pro-active member of Breckland Brass Band, taking the initiative in fundraising for a local hospice and being an active and encouraging leader in Messy Church! Those nominated are outstanding examples for their peers and rightly recognised for their integrity and dependability.

Each winner is presented with an engraved shield which is kept at the school for the twelve months following the presentation. In addition, each winner receives a personal trophy to keep engraved with the details of the Award, a certificate and £100 cash.

Our presentation evening was a true celebration of these young people and all they do. Club members welcomed the winners, their families, supporters and staff from the schools to the presentation evening and buffet on Thursday 23^rd April 2026. We are grateful to the schools for their involvement and active participation in introducing each nominee, which provided a wider and interesting insight into the winners.  Finding out how amazing these four young people are, both in and out of school, reinforced how much their lives reflected the wider principles of Rotary International.

Winners this year were:

Lilly-Belle Ellis (Breckland School),

Max Keeler (Iceni Academy),

Lewis Piggott (Mildenhall College Academy) and

Michael Armstrong (Thetford Academy).

Rotarian Shaun Hannon, Club President, presented the Awards and is pictured with the winners.