OUTSTANDING YOUNG PERSON IN UNITED KINGDOM RECEIVES AWARD IN MEMORY OF DIANA PRINCESS OF WALES
Young person from the UK is honoured with the Diana Award for going above and beyond in their daily life to create and sustain positive change.
Darius Nasimi, aged 25, from UK has been recognised with the highest accolade a young person can achieve for social action or humanitarian efforts – The Diana Award.
Established in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, the Award is given out by the charity of the same name and has the support of both her sons, HRH The Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex.
Darius arrived in the UK as an infant after his family fled Afghanistan to escape the Taliban in 1999. Growing up in Southeast London, he graduated from King’s College London in 2021 with a BA in Politics and Philosophy. At 17, he secured grants to relocate the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association (ACAA) and launch a Saturday School for refugee children. As Head of Funding at ACAA, he raised £8 million to support refugees, including £300,000 for Ukrainian resettlement. Darius has also led impactful projects like the ‘Green Education Project’ and ‘Muslim Girls Football Club’, inspiring change through advocacy and mentoring. He champions refugee integration, entrepreneurship, and UK-Central Asia relations.
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Dr Tessy Ojo CBE, CEO of The Diana Award, says:
“We warmly congratulate our new Diana Award Recipients from across the world who are dedicating their time to making positive change. These young people demonstrate that young people have the power to change the world; a belief also held by Diana Princess of Wales. We know by receiving this honour they will inspire more young people to get involved in their communities.”
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HOW DO YOU RECEIVE A DIANA AWARD?
Diana Award Recipients have been nominated by adults who know the young people in a professional capacity and want to recognise their efforts to make a positive contribution to society. All Diana Award Recipients have dedicated a minimum of 12 months to leading positive social change through a variety of activities from campaigning and educating, to fundraising to delivering services.
In 2024, there were over 80 volunteers representing over 30 countries, who came together in panels, read through and marked each nomination against five key criteria: vision, social impact, inspiring others, youth leadership, and social action journey. Each judging panel consisted of at least three judges who understand the value of young people, including one young person representative. The panels have an important main purpose: to determine which nominations will receive the Diana Award.
This year The Diana Award received over 1700 nomination submissions, making this the most competitive year yet.
