Day 13: Awareness raising hero Katrina Hammond

Katrina Hammond, 19, from Clacton-on-sea has been a volunteer for the last six years.

Her venture into volunteering started in 2004 when, concerned that she wouldn’t be able to get a paid job when she left school, Katrina decided to volunteer in a charity shop to gain some work experience.

Her passion for football then led her to get involved with the National Association of Disabled Supporters (NADS) and since then Katrina has attended football games all over the UK and Europe to assess facilities and advocate for disabled football fans. Her most recent work with the charity involved lobbying for changes in the allocation of tickets for disabled people for the FIFA World Cup.

In March 2008, Katrina started working with local charity, Tendring Young Persons Epilepsy Support, (TYPES), facilitating workshops about epilepsy in order to increase awareness and decrease the myths and misconceptions surrounding the condition.

Then, in 2009 she joined forces with a group of disabled volunteers to film a short video for a new skills, training and employment website, www.lifetracks.com. The aim of the video was to highlight the challenges faced by young disabled people in getting support at school.  Her involvement in the video was recognised by her local paper, the Clacton Gazette, which featured a news article about the work of the group.

Katrina has dedicated a huge amount of her time to volunteering, using her own personal experiences of discrimination to educate others about epilepsy and other disabilities. She also raises awareness of all the activities that young disabled people can get involved with, so that they can feel empowered.

Katrina is a well deserving runner up of the Young Community Achievers Award as her volunteering efforts have made a huge difference in her community and beyond.  She is an excellent role model and an inspiration to other young people.

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