Nushelle de Silva (Twitter)
Sri Lanka’s Nushelle de Silva will be one of 60 youth from the Commonwealth to receive the prestigious Queen’s Young Leaders Award.
The Award, which will be presented in London by Her Majesty The Queen in 2016, and is part of The Queen’s Young Leaders Programme, celebrates the achievements of young people who are taking the lead to transform the lives of others and make a lasting difference in their communities, said a news release.
27 year old Nushelle de Silva from Sri Lanka has been selected in recognition of her work on peace and reconciliation projects.
Prince Harry meets with the South African winners ahead of the announcement. (Picture by Waldo Swiegers via Comic Relief UK)
“I was deeply affected by my country’s civil war, so I now use the arts to generate dialogue between ethnically diverse youths. In 2012, I founded Building Bridges, a series of weekly arts workshops, to encourage dialogue between young people in recently rehabilitated communities. I am so honoured to be part of the Queen’s Young Leaders programme,” Nushelle de Silva said.
This year’s Award winners, aged between 18 and 29 and who come from all over the Commonwealth, are working to support others, raise awareness and inspire change on a variety of different issues including; education, climate change, gender equality, mental health and disability equality.
The Queen’s Young Leaders Programme was established in 2014 by The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust in partnership with Comic Relief and the Royal Commonwealth Society in recognition of The Queen’s lifetime of service to the Commonwealth. Over the next three years the Programme will support thousands of young people to achieve their goals.
