A FORMER pupil of Lomond School in Helensburgh has received a prestigious award celebrating the UK's most inspiring young people.

Kristina von Kaehne, 19, won a Diana Award, established in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, for her work with refugees in camps across Greece with the 'Love and Serve Without Boundaries' organisation.

Launched in 1999, the Diana Award recognises the contributions of outstanding young people selflessly creating and sustaining positive social change and is described as "the most prestigious accolade a young person aged 9-25 years can receive for their social action or humanitarian work".

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Kristina, from Lochgoilhead, is one of only 17 young people in Scotland to receive the award this year, with a further 54 recipients throughout the UK.

According to the Diana Awards website, Kristina first volunteered with her family in a refugee camp in Thessalonika in 2016.

The citation on the website says: "Shocked at the situation refugee families were facing, she has since returned to refugee camps in the country on six separate occasions, assisting in the medical centres and teaching children English and German.

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"When not working in a camp, she raised awareness by educating her peers and teachers on the refugee crisis and, in doing so, inspired them to set up a donation scheme for the school to fund basic items."

Lomond School, in a statement on their Facebook page, added: "Over the past four years Kristina has dedicated much of her spare time, including school holidays, to helping others in the camp medical centres and through teaching English and German to refugees of all ages.

"We are immensely proud of her work and could not think of a more deserving recipient of this prestigious award.

"Congratulations Kristina, you are an inspiration!"

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