A brother and sister from Helston have finally been able to celebrate their British Citizen Youth Awards at a special ceremony at the Palace of Westminster, after being sent their awards at the height of the pandemic.

Over the last eight years, the siblings have helped their mum Leigh raise money for local charities in Cornwall, and have also raised over £600,000 for their school and other schools within their academy.

Jack, 13, and Lily Yates, 14, were each presented with their Certificate of Honour by TV presenter Tim Vincent, alongside 23 other young people from across the UK who have done a great deal to impact their communities.

Jack is an animal lover, and has raised thousands of pounds for animal charities – adopting three cats from Sue’s Cat Rescue along the way. He dresses up as an elf at Christmas, making people laugh and part with their cash all in the name of a good cause.

Lily also spends her spare time fundraising for several charities, and has no problem rolling up her sleeves to move heavy boxes of donations, shaking a collection tin for cancer charities, litter picking, arranging beach cleans and raising funds for her school and a school in Africa.

She said Lily said: “It was amazing to meet so many like-minded others, and we are staying in touch to join forces”, while Jack said: “It was an amazing day, being honoured at the House of Lords!”

Their mum, Leigh Yates – a recipient of a British Citizen Award herself – said: “As a mum I couldn’t be prouder to have such great kids, and this award reflects their compassion and hard work.”

Each Medal of Honour bears the words ‘For the Good of the Country’ and are presented to only a small number of exceptional young individuals each year. The British Citizen Youth Award is widely viewed as the nation’s way of recognising extraordinary, everyday young people for exceptional endeavour and are truly representative of today’s multicultural Britain.

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2022 medal presentations, register online at www.britishcitizenyouthawards.co.uk.