Catmose College student Charlie was sadly diagnosed with a life-threatening Chronic Kidney Disease 5 years ago. At age 11, Charlie went into renal failure and is in urgent need of a kidney transplant to save his life.

Despite battling invasive daily medical treatments, operations, and hospital admissions, Charlie hasn’t let this hold him back, and his brave work and campaigning to help raise awareness of the disease and organ donation has been outstanding.

During the last academic year students wore a hint of pink for a non-uniform day that Charlie was instrumental in organising to support and raise awareness of organ donation and Kidney Research UK resulting in a significant amount of £2860 being collected. Plus this year through his hard work and determination he was awarded joint winner for Fundraiser of the Year for the BBC Radio Leicester ‘Make a Difference Awards 2023‘.

To add to his many achievements, Charlie was chosen as 1 of 24 young people from across the UK to be awarded a British Citizen Youth Award for their positive impact on their communities and wider society. This is truly incredible, with only a small number of exceptional young individuals selected for this award annually.

In just 16 months Charlie has raised over £17,000 for kidney and associated charities, helping to raise awareness about organ donation, and offering encouragement and guidance to others. Using his story as part of the Kidney Research UK Christmas Campaign 2022, Charlie also helped to raise a further £40,000 towards vital research.

Thank you Charlie for sharing your story, and for all your brave work in raising awareness about organ donation and kidney disease – you are an inspiration to us all and we are very proud of you.