Writing for the Duke of Edinburgh Award

Hannah Clayton writes letters for our Donate A Letter campaign as part of her Duke of Edinburgh Award. She writes every week. She is 14 years old.

We asked her to tell us why she chose our charity and how she found writing her first letters.

Hello everyone!

I thought I’d take this opportunity to write a little bit about From Me to You. I first started doing this as part of my Duke of Edinburgh Award for which I needed to do some volunteering. I didn’t want to do the things that everyone else was doing; helping in the school sports department or starting a new club. I felt like I wanted to do something that made a difference to those in need that you don’t hear much about. After some searching, I came across this charity and I instantly wanted to be a part of it. I made contact with them and explained my situation with doing DofE and before I knew it I was about to write my very first letter.

I definitely found it difficult at first. I’d never done anything like this before so writing to a complete stranger was very weird. But after I’d got the first lines out of the way, writing about everyday things was easy. It was almost as if I was chatting to a long lost friend instead of someone I’ve never met before. Plus, every time I put one in the post, I feel happy that I’m actually able to make a difference in people’s lives. Now when I write a letter, the words just seem to flow and it didn’t take long to realise that it doesn’t matter what I write about as long as it is heartfelt.

Overall, I’m finding it an amazing experience to know that each letter is making more and more people feel less alone. As well, it doesn’t feel like a chore at all to do this, even though I originally started it to finish my award. It’s definitely something I’ll continue to do even after my Duke of Edinburgh time is up.

Hannah's letters are a joy to read and we thank her for her kindness and generosity.