Student Gabrielle Mathews, who recently started Year 5 of the Medicine (MBBS) programme, received the Diana Award last month.

The Diana Award is given annually to those who inspiring positive change in the lives of young people, which reflects the personal interests of Diana, Princess of Wales.

We recently sat down with Gabby to talk about the award, her volunteer work and her future plans.

First of all, congratulations on the Diana Award! When did you find out, and how are you feeling?

Thank you! I first found out in March, which was very exciting, but I couldn’t tell anyone until the Roll of Honour was released in July. I was overjoyed and really keen to use this as an opportunity and catalyst for even more work to come. 

Tell us more about your work in relation to the Diana Award: who nominated you?

I was nominated by a colleague at NHS England and Improvement. The award recognises a body of work, and my work over the last six years has included advocating for the voices of Children and Young People in the NHS, both locally and nationally.

Can you expand a bit more on your volunteer work with the NHS?

I’ve been involved in volunteering from an early age, and my first role in health was at Birmingham Children’s hospital on their Young Person’s Advisory Group. In 2017, I joined the NHS Youth Forum, which spurred my interest in policy and strategy work. I have also advised on the Children and Young People’s section of the NHS Long Term Plan and sat on the NHS Assembly, the youngest person ever to do so, holding the boards of NHS England and Improvement to advise them on their implementation of the plan. Early this year, I was chosen as one of two Youth Expert Advisors, within the CYP Transformation Board at NHSE/I.

And are you involved in other work outside of the NHS?

Yes, I work as a #iwill ambassador and chair their Health and Social Care Steering Group. I also spent a year working as a young technical advisor to the WHO collaborating centre with Public Health England. I also serve on the oversight board of the REAL centre at the Health Foundation.

That’s an incredible scope of volunteering – what has been your motivation?

I am passionate about inclusion and representation in sustainability planning, safeguarding conversations and digital. I try to honestly represent the experiences and stories of children and young people that I work with and advocate for co-production and co-delivery at all levels of policy and strategy work.

What does winning the Diana Award mean to you? 

This award means a huge amount to me, particularly as it is awarded in Princess Diana’s name. To me, Princess Diana stood for inclusivity, warmth and the strength in symbolism and gentle challenge to push for change. These are three qualities that I really hope to reflect in myself. It’s really special to be recognised in her honour and to reflect on what I have achieved and the progress that has been made. It is a moment for me to take stock, meet other young advocates and campaigners and start working again with the help of this new network. 

As a youth advocate, I want to honestly represent the children and young people that I work with and be open to all facets of their stories. I’ve taken on roles I have because the symbolism of having a young person in that space gives me a platform upon which I can stand and call for more voices like mine to be heard and show how, next time, they can truly work with young people. 

Why did you decide to attend Imperial, and to study Medicine?

My choice to study Medicine was inspired by my experiences as a patient and seeing all the amazing work at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. In the year that I started volunteering there, I completely changed my mind. I initially had an interest in politics and international development or law, which I often think comes through in what I find interesting in Medicine. When I was looking at universities, I wanted to study in London and really liked Imperial when I attended on an open day.

Who have been important mentors for you at Imperial, and why? 

I am lucky to have worked with supportive supervisors and personal tutors during my time at Imperial. Working with Dr Bob Klaber over the past two years on the NHS Assembly and sharing interests in children and young people has been really helpful. Bob is an expert at quality improvement and deliberative engagement methodologies, and through working with him he has helped guide my energy to where my work can be most impactful. 

As part of my BSc in Global Health, I organised my own dissertation project on the new RSHE Curriculum and Health Literacy. Creating an independent project was hard, but I was lucky to have Dr Dougal Hargreaves, Dr Ann Hagell and Dr Shyam Sundar Budhathoki as incredible supervisors who have guided and inspired me even through lockdown.

All this work can be a lot to manage alongside a full time UG degree and board meetings. My personal tutors Dr Fiona Regan (Years 1 and 2) and Dr Steven Reid (Year 3 - present) have helped me find the balance and manage my health conditions.

How has your time at Imperial prepared you to create meaningful change in the healthcare industry? 

Studying at Imperial has provided inspiration as I am surrounded by leaders in their fields and passionate, dedicated students. Additionally, being at Imperial and having an academic background is really helpful in enabling me to engage well with papers and policy documents in my volunteer work.

What advice would you give to students looking to come to Imperial and looking to get involved with similar work?

My journey to all of this work started prior to coming to Imperial, which means I have had a long time to grow a network and get very involved. However, it really is never too late to start doing advocacy work as there are so many opportunities with charities and even within ICHT.

I think the most important thing is that you are doing it because you’re interested in the work and you’re passionate about it. I lose a lot of free time to volunteering and even time that I could be using for my studies, but without the volunteering and advocacy work I don’t think I would be driven to study medicine. If you have a cause that you really care about it is easy to motivate yourself to push for change on it. It’s helpful to find friends or a mentor who works in the field or shares similar values.

What are your passions in healthcare and health services?

At the moment, I am really passionate about areas of health inequality, which is what draws me to a lot of the work that I do with Children and Young People and global and public health. I believe in robust health education both in schools and for the general public – health literacy and patient activation excite me. 

What are your future goals, both within the medical field and otherwise? 

I am keen to work in clinical medicine and am particularly interested in Paediatrics and Emergency Medicine. I would like to continue doing advocacy work either by working with civil servants or with government as I have enjoyed policy. I am also interested in large NGOs, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and UNICEF. My main goal is to be able to look back and think that my efforts led to positive change in the lives of people – the route I take to do that is flexible.

Information about our MBBS programme is available here.

You can read more about the work of The Diana Award charity on their website.