Burgess Hill Girls student to represent Mid Sussex and Horsham at the UK Youth Parliament

The school said Grace Dobson, whose campaign slogan was ‘Dobbo does the Jobbo’, decided to run for the UKYP after hearing about it from Dionne Flatman, Head of Economics, Politics and Business.

She said: “I enjoy putting myself in positions of leadership and am passionate about promoting equality, the environment, and health and wellbeing so it seemed like an opportunity I could not miss.”

Burgess Hill Girls said Grace credited her election success to her manifesto video, which was created with her friends and shared via her campaign Instagram account @dobbo4parliament. The video explains Grace’s main campaign promise to promote the use of green areas to aid mental wellbeing.

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Burgess Hill Girls Head Lars Fox said: “Grace is the 2023 recipient of our BOLD Award, a full scholarship for a student who we believe has the potential to make a significant impact on the world around them both now and in the future. This is just one of the many signs that Grace is following this path at pace.”

UKYP are aged 11 to 18 and are elected to represent the views of young people in West Sussex and nationally when they attend an annual debate in the House of Commons in London.