Our President, Lord Griffiths of Burry Port shares his reflections on the recent Make a Difference Awards.

“At the beginning of September, about 100 people were gathered together in surroundings as far removed from a church hall as it’s possible to imagine. Young people, leaders, friends and family, had come from all over the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland for a very special event. The meeting place was wondrous – nothing less than the State Rooms which form part of the dwelling place of the Speaker of the House of Commons. The River Thames flowed past and we looked down on Westminster Bridge and across the river to the London Eye. In this place Kings and Queens, Presidents and Prime Ministers, the Great and the Good had walked and talked since time immemorial. It could have been overwhelming. But it wasn’t. Those present commanded the space as if it had been created for them. And the cause we were celebrating deserved no less wonderful a setting.

We were there to honour those receiving MAD (Make a Difference) awards, young people who had shown exceptional sensitivity, grace, and courage in their homes, Companies or communities.

Jonathan Hatchet of the 1st Bluestone Company in Northern Ireland, for example, had volunteered in charity shops and taught disabled children how to swim and play rugby since the age of 12.

Niaomi and Mollie Owen of the 1st Hanley Company in Stoke-on-Trent had given unstinting help to their parents in looking after their brother Bradley who suffers from a severe functional disability. By playing games, reading and helping with his homework, they take so much pressure off their mum and dad.

And then there was John Blair of the 1st Barrhead Company in Scotland. What a lad! He has done a huge amount of volunteering and fundraising for a local Hospice Charity Shop and for other charities too, to say nothing of the hours he’s given in the service of his own church and BB Company.

The awards were given by one of the Deputy Speakers of the House of Commons, Mr Lindsay Hoyle MP. I shall never forget the picture of this august man, wearing official morning dress and accompanied by one of his officials, kneeling down in greeting and for photographs beside one of our MAD award winners. There was something fundamentally right about that. In this place where power has been wielded and important decisions taken that have affected the life of the nation, due honour and respect was being afforded to those who work tirelessly and sacrificially to make our communities richer and better. Jesus set a child in the midst of his contemporaries to teach them a few lessons about the meaning of life. That lesson was being re-enacted in the Speaker’s apartment that day in early September.”

A full collection of photos from the event at boys-brigade.org.uk/bb-media/house-of-commons-visit/