Kindness and Compassion Rule!

There is no question that the past week has shown every little quirk of the human condition.  The good, the bad and the very, very ugly have crawled out from under their stones and shown us a side to life that we’d much rather turn away from.

I was therefore both relieved and thankful when I heard about this young woman and the special award she has collected from her Primary school. This folks, will brighten your day and remind you that there are good people of all ages and from all little corners of the world who work hard to make a difference in a positive way.

Ava Harvey is just about to leave Comrie Primary School to make her way up to Crieff High School in August.  Last week she was presented with The Citizenship Shield which is awarded to children who have shown compassion, kindness and leadership.    Now, like all decent folk, these things are top of my list in ‘Things I Like About People’ and so over a pot of tea and some sweet potato chips I caught up with Ava, her Mum and big sister Tess to find out more about this wonderful award and just what an eleven year old might be up to that deserves the win.

It turns out, she’s been up to quite a lot!

Three years ago, Ava took part in her first charity event for Sport Relief when she ran a mile and cycled a mile with big sister Tess in order to raise some funds for this great charity. 

“I really liked it and decided I could do other things to help and that I could get people from school involved.  I took the idea to the head-teacher and asked if I could do some fundraising in school and she said yes.”

Now, Ava it turns out was already a girl who likes to lead. She was the chairperson of the Health Committee in P7 which aims to keep the school healthy. Together with the group they organised a Movie Star Themed Marathon where they dressed up as their favourite film characters while running for money! They raised £1280 for the charity and Ava set up about planning the next one!

There was a dress down for CHAS which raised £500 and a Bake Sale for Children in Need which raised another £500.

Ava took the lead in organising all of these projects (I’ve already offered her a job… get in line folks!) and tells me they had great fun doing it all. 

“It was good fun and we raised a lot of money to help other people which was great.  It’s good to help if you can.”

Ava didn’t know she was to be awarded the Citizenship Shield, nor did her parents, and so it was a great surprise at least week’s prizegiving when her name was called out in order that Joan Carmichael could present her with her award.  The cup has been running for 12 years now and I don’t know about you, but I think that an award that encourages kindness and compassion should be something that we see across the board in all areas of life.

Showing young people that these are values to be proud of and every bit as important as the academic and sports achievements is a wonderful thing to do and it warmed my heart to hear of this young girl’s efforts being recognised by her school in front of her friends and family. Go Comrie Primary!

I asked Ava if she was surprised the cup went to her…

“Really, really surprised! I didn’t think it would be me who got it this year but I am really pleased.”

As Ava explained all of this to me, her Mum sat proudly listening in.

“We didn’t know she was going to be awarded this but I have to say… I’m not surprised! She has worked really hard on these projects this year and is genuinely a kind and compassionate person. 

I think that children who are socially conscious can make a big difference and it’s great to see that being encouraged and rewarded.  Having a good education is important, of course, but knowing that you are fortunate and being willing to pay that forward is a life skill you’ll have forever.  We’re very proud.”

Hear Hear!!

In amongst this shocking week I think I’m going to end by saying Ava for Prime Minister….. :-)