Police praise as Ewan achieves DoE award

Lance Corporal Ewan Baillie, of Berwick Detachment, Northumbria Army Cadet Force, came up with the idea to put togther Little Bags of Hope to key workers at the local hospital, fire station, police station and RNLI and Coastguard stations.

Following the positive response to the initiative, he kept going and a total of 600 were made.

Other places to receive them included local nursing homes, Post Offices, the Royal Mail delivery office and funeral homes.

As well as a keyring, each bag included a range of keepsakes – a star, a marble, an elastic band, a plastic diamond jewel, a candle and a penny – and there was a poem explaining what each item meant.

Following this project, the Berwickshire High School student went on to deliver 500 of his Letters of Hope to local residents, many of whom were shielding.

The 15-year-old was presented with his silver 2020 DoE Certificate of Achievement (the award has been created for this year only as the young people on the programme are unable to do the expedition section due to Covid-19) in Berwick by Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) Rob Younger.

Ewan has completed his regular DoE bronze and will hopefully be able to complete his regular silver next year, as well as start on sections for the gold award.

PCSO Younger, who works in rural Northumberland, said he was honoured to be selected to present Ewan with his certificate and has praised his inspiring and passionate actions.

He added: “It is great to see someone of Ewan’s age so passionate about his community and helping others.

“I know he has aspirations to join the police and we would be delighted to have someone with his kind and caring nature and dedication in Northumbria Police.”

Ewan said: “I am thrilled to have received this fantastic award and it was great to see the impact that the Little Bags of Hope and the Letters of Hope had on the community.”