A young Angus schoolgirl has been honoured by a national charity for her coaching work with other kids.
Twelve-year-old Rebecca Howie has completed not just the usual one, but five Barnardo’s Scotland’s Dynamic Youth Awards (DYA) — the most hours anyone taking part has achieved.
Rebecca, from Kirriemuir, was honoured at the charity’s Arbroath office on Friday as the Barnardo’s Hopscotch Angus Service was so impressed with her achievements.
Youth Achievement Awards development worker Jenna Mitchelmore said she had “never seen as much work and dedication from anyone.”
Rebecca heard about the Dynamic Youth Awards through her volunteer befriender, Vicky Gosling, at Hopscotch Angus.
Rebecca said: “I wanted to do the awards because I knew I was going to be able to do something good for other people as well as myself.
“I tried to do my first Dynamic Youth Award with Young Carers when I was nine but I was too young and had to wait until I was 10.
“It’s a great opportunity to boost your confidence and meet new people.”
Rebecca’s awards included planning the end of year Primary 7 party at Southmuir Primary School in Kirriemuir, and helping at her local sports club coaching gymnastics to five-year-olds.
And her last award focused on helping at her local gymnastics club at Webster’s Sports Centre in Kirriemuir, where she volunteered five hours each week, three hours after school on Friday and two hours on Saturday – on top of her own training.
Gymnastics coach Kirsty Cameron has high praise for Rebecca saying: “Rebecca is absolutely amazing, she is 100 per cent committed and competent.
“She is very knowledgeable about gymnastics and is able to pass that on to the children in a way I could never do.
“I’ve been coaching for 14 years and I was learning from her.
“If it hadn’t been for Rebecca, it would have been very difficult to run the clubs as the group was becoming too big for one person to coach.
“She was an absolute lifesaver.”
