Healthy Eating Campaign Is A Win For Hampshire’s Youth Parliament

A member of Hampshire’s Youth Parliament (MYP) has been honoured with a national award for volunteering, by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

Dev Sharma was named Volunteer of the Year in the 2022 UK Parliament Awards.

Congratulating Dev on his award, Councillor Roz Chadd, Deputy Leader, and Executive Lead Member for Children’s Services at Hampshire County Council, said: “Many congratulations to Dev. Our young politicians continue to impress me with their engagement and accomplishment on the national stage, as well as their innovative work within Hampshire. Dev has made it his mission to campaign for healthy food choices for young people and tackling junk food advertising. He is working to make a real difference by successfully petitioning the government to protect young people from advertising that promotes unhealthy foods. I am immensely proud of all Hampshire Youth Parliament members, and all our 11- to 18-year-olds who not only vote for them, but also vote to decide what issues they should campaign for on behalf of Hampshire’s young people. This year they are also planning a youth mental health day for the county and focusing on protecting Hampshire’s environment by stopping plastic pollution – both causes to which I am happy to give my wholehearted support.”

Dev Sharma commented: “I’m proud to accept this award on behalf of the work of hundreds of young people that have made this possible. It feels surreal to have won. It was a magical day being invited to the Palace of Westminster with my family. I look forward to continuing my activism and aim to truly make a difference for all the youth of Hampshire whom I represent nationally as their Youth MP. I pledge to continue to make sure that the youth are heard so we can help improve people’s lives. Young people are not the leaders of tomorrow, we are the leaders of today! “

The annual awards celebrate people across the UK who have acted on the issues they care about. The winners were chosen by a panel of judges including MPs and Members of the House of Lords.

Dev attended the awards ceremony hosted in the Speaker’s House at the Houses of Parliament and accepted his award from Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons.