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SIXTH FORM STUDENT RECOGNISED FOR OUTSTANDING VOLUNTARY WORK

SIXTH FORM STUDENT RECOGNISED FOR OUTSTANDING VOLUNTARY WORK

Huge congratulations to second-year Science student, Anganile Kanthonga, who was a runner-up for the High Sheriff Young Citizen Award 2022/23. The prestigious award celebrates the kindness, thoughtfulness and bravery of exceptional young people in Greater Manchester.  Anga was nominated due to her extensive voluntary work and commitment to social action.

Anga is a student at The Sixth Form Bolton and participates in social action by volunteering for a charity called Chiva, who raise awareness of HIV and work to remove the stigma around the condition. Following an encounter with a friend who was diagnosed with HIV, Anga came to realise that she too had many misconceptions about the condition. She was put in contact with Chiva where she discovered more about HIV, and heard from young people about what it is like to live with HIV and the prejudice they face. The former Ladybridge High School pupil helped put an information booklet together which was launched in schools around the UK in 2022 with the aim of educating young people and removing the stigma attached to HIV.

Anga then went on to attend a campaign in London where she represented Chiva by delivering a presentation to a board of medical professionals and researchers in this field, encouraging them to also campaign to help to change the harmful narrative of HIV within their own communities.

The next step on the campaign trail was being invited to attend Parliament to share Chiva’s message by speaking in front of MPs about the flaws with the way the current education system teaches young people about HIV. Anga shared her ideas on a possible solution to help change the way young people are taught about HIV, with health professionals being at the forefront of the delivery.

Following this, Anga secured a scholarship to attend AIDS 2022 which funded her to attend a large health conference in Canada where she spoke in front of over 5000 healthcare professionals, to deliver the opening speech for the Youth Voice.

Alongside her work for Chiva, Anga also travels 15 miles each way, every week to volunteer at Salford Royal Hospital, having completed over 350 hours of volunteering for them to date. Anga helped keep the patients on the COVID ward hydrated throughout last summer’s heat wave.

She has also promoted world Aids Day at The Sixth Form Bolton where she is a student, to raise awareness of the condition.  Anga also lends her time to another organisation, Youth Trials Board UK (YTB), to support their pilot programme which aims to develop a model of youth participation in paediatric HIV clinical trials.

Upon receiving her High Sheriff recognition, Anga said “I am so proud of myself, especially knowing that what I do is being recognised, it’s being noticed.  This has inspired me to keep working hard to achieve more so I can continue to help others around me”.

Anga regularly gives up large amounts of her time to help others, to raise awareness and bring about social change. Whilst taking part in these numerous voluntary roles, she has also maintained a part time job in a care home, is an outstanding student at The Sixth Form Bolton, and is on track to achieve top grades this summer.

Are you inspired by Anga’s story? Visit our newsfeed for more amazing student stories https://www.bolton-sfc.ac.uk/news/