Generation Scotland Young Advisor Honoured With British Citizen Youth Award

Eva Drummond, one of our Loneliness Study Young Person Advisory Group members & Generation Scotland Young Advisors was presented with the British Citizen Youth Award Medal of Honour at The Palace of Westminster by Alison Bond, BCyA Schools Programme Lead. Eva was nominated for the award by our own Sarah Robertson, Youth Engagement Lead for Generation Scotland.

Eva Drummond presented with British Citizen Youth Award Medal of Honour
Eva Drummond being presented with British Citizen Youth Award Medal of Honour

The British Citizen Youth Award, now in its ninth year, honoured 21 young people on October 17th from across the UK that have made a difference in their communities and to society. These selfless young people have shown commitment to a multitude of causes, raising funds and awareness, and are all dedicated to making a difference. Each inspirational young person received The British Citizen Youth Award Medal of Honour, presented at The Palace of Westminster, where the official presentation ceremony was held. Each young medalist is invited to use the post-nominals BCyA as a legacy of their achievements and commitment to others.

The event was hosted on the 17th October by Singer and Actress, Kimberly Wyatt who is also a Patron of The British Citizen Youth Award who said “Many of these kids have faced turmoil in their own lives yet still choose to be selfless and help others. I applaud you and your families for your hard work and dedication. You are the future, and your brilliant endeavours will make a difference!”

Eva Drummond, aged 17, from Glasgow, has been a motivated volunteer and activist. Her work focuses on anti-bullying, youth mental health and youth advocacy.

Eva has been a voice for anti-bullying in Scotland through being part of the ‘respectme Youth Action Group’ who co-produced a two-year anti-bullying campaign rolled out across Scotland in 2022 and 2023, titled ‘Listen Up Respect our Rights’. She was twice invited to the Scottish Parliament to speak and featured on respectme’s Changemaker Webinars.

She is an #iwill ambassador where she promotes the importance of youth voice and works with other ambassadors to advocate for young people and what’s important to them. Eva is determined to have young people’s voices included in research and decision making that affect their futures, their physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.

She volunteers with Generation Scotland and was part of a small group of teenagers involved in the development of the Youth Loneliness in the Digital World study, and instrumental in changes to make the sign-up process easier for young people. Eva is also part of their Mental Health Youth Forum. Eva does all this despite complex health conditions which means she lives with chronic pain, fatigue, mobility issues and joint instability.

Eva giving a speech on the Loneliness Project
Eva giving a speech on the Loneliness Project

Eva is an exceptional young person. Despite facing her own health challenges, she puts the health of other young people at the forefront of everything she does. She advocates for young people to have a voice in health research and has worked with us to change and improve our systems in order to be more inclusive. Eva will (and already does) change the world for the better and we are so grateful for her support.

Dame Mary Perkins, Patron of the BCA said: “The British Citizen Youth Award recipients are very special individuals. These young people all go above and beyond for others with selfless acts of kindness and community spirit with no thought or expectation of praise or reward. This Medal ceremony is a great opportunity to shine a light on what they do and give them the recognition they so thoroughly deserve. They are the nation's true unsung heroes and the rising stars of the future.”

Usually only open to individuals, this is the third year, The BCyA, alongside Partner’s Specsavers, have honoured a group with The Dame Mary Perkins British Citizen Youth Award. The group, WCHG Youth Ability Group from Manchester have collectively positively impacted their community.

Each Medal of Honour bears the words ‘For the Good of the Country’ and is presented to only a small number of exceptional young individuals annually. The British Citizen Youth Award is widely viewed as the nation’s way of recognising extraordinary, everyday young people for exceptional endeavor and are truly representative of today’s multicultural Britain.

British Citizen Youth Award young medalists
British Citizen Youth Award young medalists

If you're interested in being part of our Youth work at Generation Scotland, join our loneliness study!

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2025 medal presentations, register online at www.britishcitizenyouthawards.co.uk.