Hammersmith & Fulham's annual Coldstream Guards Awards have recognised eight local young people who have gone above and beyond in school.
The Overcoming Adversity, Academic Achievement, and Sporting Achievement as well as the Mayor's Special Category awards are awarded in partnership with the Coldstream Guards, 17 Company.
The Guards are the borough's armed forces reserves based at the Princess Louise House in Hammersmith Road, Hammersmith. Students are nominated by their teachers and school staff.
The students received their awards at a celebration evening on Thursday (20 March).
Mayor's Special Award
Mohammad Malekzadeh and Trinity Patterson were named this year's recipients of the Mayor's Special Award.
Fulham Cross Girls' student Trinity was nominated for continuing to do well at school despite facing personal challenges. Her hard work has included volunteering at open evenings and joining a group travelling to Malawi in the summer as part of a charity mission.
"It's amazing to see her go from strength to strength with her attitude to education and to receive recognition for the empowered, thoughtful, inquisitive, hardworking student she is," said Head of Year 10 Abigail Flynn, who nominated Trinity.
Trinity said: "I won the award for my progress in school and how far I've come. Recently I've been enjoying school a lot more and I'm really loving my science and English classes – especially Chemistry."
Mohammad arrived in the UK as a refugee aged 15 and joined William Morris Sixth Form with very little English.
His determination earned him a grade 8 in Science and a C grade in English as a Second Language GCSE. He's studying Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics at A-level, and is interviewing at medical school.
As a care leaver, Mohammad is maintaining his grades without family support while tackling the challenges of living in a new country.
Sporting Achievement
Luis Munoz and Brenda Manic were named this year's sporting champions.
Luis was nominated for his commitment to his school and under-13s football team. He's now become a regular for Arsenal under 14s.
Brenda recently earned third place in the world cup of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. She fights professionally and has won eight gold medals, two silver medals, and two bronze medals in past competitions – all while staying on top of her schoolwork.
Academic Achievement
Hannah Nakitto and Simeon Allcock were named winners of the Academic Achievement award.
William Morris Sixth Form student Hannah was nominated for consistently achieving some of the highest grades in her year, her attitude to her studies and her support to other students.
"I cannot recommend Hannah [for this award] enough," said Associate Vice Principal Donna Tillotson.
"She is an exceptional, yet humble student and I could have nominated her under any of the award categories."
Simeon was put forward for the award because of his GCSE results at Fulham Boys School. He achieved ten grade 9s in his exams and is now running workshops for Year 11 students aiming for grade 9s.
Overcoming Adversity
Arta Moghaddasi Esfevashi and Gurpreet Singh Bindra received this year's Overcoming Adversity awards.
Arta moved to the UK in 2022 to seek asylum with his family. He was nominated for his dedication and hard work at school. Despite struggling with personal challenges, Arta is on track to achieve A* grades in Physics and Maths and A grades in Chemistry and Further Maths at A-Level.
Gurpreet moved to the UK in 2022 and spent almost two years living in hotels with his family.
Despite the challenge of regularly moving, Gurpreet continued to work hard and attend all his lessons. He's predicted to achieve A* grades in Physics and Maths and an A in further Maths and Economics. He has applied to university to study Computer Science.
