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Recently I had the privilege of attending the 20th WellChild Awards – an inspiring evening celebrating the courage and achievements of children and young people, as well as the families, carers and professionals who support them.  

As part of the evening’s celebrations, I was honoured to present the Inspirational Child 7–11 Award to 10-year-old William. His courage and determination have seen him overcome significant health challenges while excelling in sport, captaining his wheelchair rugby team to national victory and championing disability sport. 

It was also wonderful to see my former Youth Ambassador, Rosanna, recognised as the winner of the Inspirational Young Person 15–18 Award. I asked her to share more about her story and what this recognition meant to her. Here is what she said:

I was incredibly honoured to be the recipient of the 2026 WellChild Inspirational Young Person 15-18 Award and to attend the award ceremony in London. 

Having both various complex needs myself and being a young carer to a younger brother with complex needs, I have always tried to advocate for children who, like my brother and I, have found it difficult to have a voice in decisions that affect our lives.  

Both of us have mixed experiences of education. While we have had some brilliant years with amazing staff, and experienced understanding and support, between us we have also experienced challenges, including disability discrimination, neglect and barriers to education.  

 For my brother – who is nonspeaking – it can be particularly difficult as he is routinely left without a meaningful say in decisions about him. While I have sometimes been able to advocate for myself, he is often offered no choice, often because professionals do not always take the time or use the right methods to engage and understand him.  

As a result of our combined experiences, I try to advocate for all children, but especially those like my brother and I, to help ensure that every child and young person, no matter their needs, has a voice in all decisions that affect their lives and that they are heard and represented in decisions.  

Between speaking to MPs and ministers, writing reports, lobbying, adapting resources and training professionals, I strive to share as many young people’s voices as possible and try to change legislation and systems to better suit young people.  

I don’t do this work for recognition. I do it because if I can help prevent the negative experiences of my brother and I for any other child then I will.  

I was completely amazed to find out I had even been nominated for the WellChild Award and then going on to win such a prestigious award was incredible. It was fantastic to see the work I do as a youth advocate, young carer and the challenges I overcome as a young person with complex needs recognised in such a meaningful way.  

Thank you so much to my mum for nominating me and the staff at my amazing school, who both accommodate my needs with unwavering support, and allow me to take opportunities to advocate for others.  

Additionally, thank you to the various organisations and charities I work with including the Children’s Commissioner and Restored Lives who all give me the platform to advocate for others and support me to do so.  

My family and I had an amazing night celebrating both my achievements and those of the other young people, parents, carers and nurses who won awards. The atmosphere was incredible and I had such fun meeting Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the various celebrities, the exceptional professionals and loving families who attended. I think my highlight was my brother getting the opportunity to dance on stage with Peter Andre. I still can’t really believe it all happened.  

Looking to the future, I look forward to receiving the consultation response to the Schools White Paper so I can continue trying to ensure that the lived reality of SEND and schools is reflected and the proposed reforms work for as many young people as possible.  

I also look forward to further feeding into the National Inclusion Standards, the EOTAS consultation and the secondary legislation of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026. I will also be furthering my work trying to improve the voice of children with complex needs in family law proceedings, creating child friendly resources for children going through Child Inclusive Mediation and feeding into various legislation on behalf of children and young people such as the social media ban and votes at 16.