Pupils at Our Lady and St Edwards School in St. Anns were treated with a visit from Lady Lyanna Mormont herself, who was in town to promote the Prince William Award...
Fresh off the back of her star turn in the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones, Bella Ramsey paid a visit to Our Lady and St Edwards School in St. Anns. The actress, who plays the iconic Lady Lyanna Mormont in the hit HBO series, visited the school on Friday 26 April to get involved in activities as part of the Prince William Award delivered by Nottinghamshire charity SkillForce.
The Prince William Award is a pioneering character and resilience programme aimed at boosting children and young people’s confidence, resilience and self-belief. The award is the only one of its kind and the only one in HRH The Duke of Cambridge’s name, and is a yearlong experience for six to fourteen year olds, which was launched in 2017, and is now on track to be delivered to 13,000 children across the UK this academic year.
Bella said, “I’ve just spent an afternoon at this great school Our Lady and St Edward. It has really opened my eyes to what the Prince William Award does. It really does benefit the kids, every child, it’s not just selective ones, I think it benefits everyone I lots of different way and I’ve had so much fun and I’d love to be back in Year Six again! I’ve had so much fun with everyone and I am so inspired and honoured to be a part of The Prince William Award. It’s been really good to see the children taking part and I wish I had had this opportunity when I was their age.”
Pupil, Vanessa, 11, said: “It was like a dream come true because Bella is on TV all the time and it’s a lot of peoples dream to meet her. PWA has been really good for me because since starting I have really improved my confidence and resilience. “
I’ve had so much fun with everyone and I am so inspired and honoured to be a part of The Prince William Award
Trey, 11, said: “It’s been inspirational because of Bella’s advice and wise words. I asked Bella why she started to support the PWA and she said because she thinks it would have been really good for her when she was in Year Six and would have helped her to be more confident for Year Seven.”
The Prince William Award was devised in Nottingham, and bosses at the charity have officially invited Bella, 15, who was born in the city, to become an Ambassador. SkillForce CEO Ben Slade said: “Bella was introduced to the charity’s work by an existing supporter and we were thrilled to hear that she was keen to find out more about what we do. “Our flagship award programme is all about helping children to realise their ambition, to be confident and have a good level of self-belief and we feel that Bella will be a wonderful role model for the children we work with and a fantastic ambassador for the Prince William Award. We are incredibly proud of this programme and the fact that it was devised here, at our offices in Mansfield. We want Nottingham and The Midlands to be proud of this too and we’re thrilled to have Nottingham born Bella on board to help raise the profile of our important work.”
SkillForce is a nationwide charity that delivers the Prince William Award across the whole of the country currently in more than 300 schools helping them to face life’s challenges and embrace opportunities. HRH Prince William has been Royal Patron of the charity since 2009 and is now supporting its mission to ‘inspires generations of self-believers’. At an official graduation ceremony for 2017/18 graduates last September The Duke said: “This award has flourished over its first year positively impacting the lives of almost seven and a half thousand children. I have received some wonderful feedback from school leaders, teachers, parents and instructors as well as the young people themselves; and that film said it all really.”
Having spent the day engaging with young people at the school, Bella said, “I’m so privileged to be on board with SkillForce, I really believe in their vision. It’s something I know I would have benefited from immensely and so I am passionate about the growth of SkillForce and helping provide the incredible work they do for every child who would benefit. I’m excited for this journey, and the fact that it’s a charity that started in the East Midlands, my home, tops it off. With courage and confidence, we can face our battles.”
To find out more information about The Prince William Award, visit the SkillForce website
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