A young person from Wells has been honoured with the Diana Award for going above and beyond in their daily life to create and sustain positive change.

Poppy McGhee, aged 16, has been recognised with the highest accolade a young person can achieve for social action or humanitarian efforts – the Diana Award.

Established in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, the award is given out by the charity of the same name and has the support of both her sons, the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex.

Poppy is an exceptionally talented violinist, using her talents to bring joy to the lives of children with disabilities.

Poppy held her first concert at age 10, when she raised £720 for the Amber Trust, a charity which funds music opportunities for blind and partially-sighted children.

Poppy has since held many performances, raising thousands of pounds, including hosting a virtual concert during the first lockdown which raised more than £2,000 for the trust.

During performances, Poppy is easily able to connect with visually impaired children and is noted for her ability to "light up the room... the smiles on the children's faces say it all". She is already the holder of a national Rotary Young Citizen Award.

Tessy Ojo, CEO of the Diana Award, said: "We congratulate all our new Diana Award recipients from the UK and all over the globe who are change-makers for their generation.

"We know by receiving this honour they will inspire more young people to get involved in their communities and begin their own journey as active citizens.

"For more than 20 years the Diana Award has valued and invested in young people encouraging them to continue to make positive change in their communities and lives of others."

Award recipients have been put forward by adults who know the young people in a professional capacity and recognise their efforts as a positive contribution to society.

Through a rigorous nomination process, these nominators had to demonstrate the nominee's impact in five key areas: Vision, Social Impact, Inspiring Others, Youth Leadership, and Service Journey.

There are 12 Diana Award Judging Panels representing each UK region or nation and a further three panels representing countries outside of the UK.

Each panel consist of three judges - one young person, an education or youth work professional, and a business or government representative.

The panels have an important main purpose - to determine which nominations from each UK region/nation/country will receive the Diana Award.

Nominations are judged using the Criteria Guide and Scoring Guide which have been created to measure quality of youth social action.