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Mother's pride in volunteer Sophie
A sixteen-year-old who is a "volunteering superstar" has been nominated for the Evening Telegraph's Pride In Northamptonshire award.
Sophie Howe, who starts sixth form at Weavers School in Wellingborough in September, has been put forward in the Our Young Achiever category for her volunteering work with four different charities.
Hard-working Sophie, of Windermere Drive, Wellingborough, lost her dad from a heart attack when she was nine years old and, according to her mum Sarah O'Connor, has wanted to help other people ever since.
On top of her school work, last term Sophie spent every Thursday afternoon at Wellingborough Castle running dance and drama workshops for disabled adults with charity Young Creations and every Saturday working at the British Heart Foundation shop in Wellingborough town centre.
For Sophie, it all started when the Northamptonshire Voluntary Youth Action (NVYA) visited her school in 2008. She said: "I've always wanted to do something outside of school and I couldn't get a proper job, so I thought I'd do it without the money.
"It's fun and I really enjoy it. I'm hoping to go into something like Young Creations as a career.
"I hate being stuck indoors, so I'll try anything once and if I enjoy it, I'll do it again.
"The Heart Foundation wouldn't exist without volunteers.
"It's not just helping someone else, you get to learn new skills and you get to interact with people you wouldn't normally meet."
And it doesn't stop there. Sophie is also an active member of the Wellingborough Youth Action Team with NVYA and a member of the Wellingborough Royal National Lifeboat Institution alongside her grandmother.
Andy Donnachie, youth volunteer development manager for NVYA, said: "Sophie is a volunteering superstar. She's extremely committed, she's a wonderful young woman. Anything you ask her to do, she'll do. She puts other people's needs before her own."
Sophie's mum Sarah said: "I am so very proud of her and think she ought to be recognised for this. She lost her dad when she was nine years old and has always wanted to help others as much as she can."
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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