Keele University PhD student Elliott Lancaster has received two prestigious national accolades for his services to education and the community.

Elliott has been awarded the Prime Minister’s Points of Light award for his volunteer work and will also receive the British Citizen Award medal for his services to education at Westminster Palace in March.

Points of Light awards are given out by the Prime Minister each weekday to outstanding individual volunteers who are making a change in their community.

The British Citizen Award recognises individuals that positively impact others, and highlights the positive aspects of multi-cultural communities, workplaces, community groups and charities throughout the UK.

Elliott has a passion for social change and youth empowerment, and alongside studying for his PhD in Management, he has provided significant impact and encouragement for young people across a range of activities. He has also engaged with over 20,000 young people in events and raised £50,000 collectively between projects.

Elliott was a Top 10 finalist for the Chegg.org Global Student Prize last year thanks to his work campaigning for mental health, social enterprise, sustainability, and a solution to homelessness. He also supports a number of charities both locally and nationally, including his work as a volunteer and Trustee of Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, I Have a Voice CIC, Spirit of Peace, and the Wolfpack Project, a charity dedicated to reducing loneliness and social isolation amongst young adults.

In 2016 Elliott established ‘Utter Rubbish’ - a social enterprise and mobile phone app that connects UK citizens to local councils, helping to reduce waste and updating residents on recycling policies in real time.

Elliott said: “I am thrilled to have been selected to receive the British Citizen Award medal for my services to education, and it is surreal and exciting to have been recognised by the Prime Minister for my long-standing community work."

“To receive such prestigious awards is incredibly humbling - I am delighted that my service work has had a profound impact and hope that I can inspire others as to what can be done to support our communities.”

Elliott will receive the Points of Light award in February, and will be honoured with The British Citizen Award for Services to Education in a ceremony at Westminster Palace on Thursday 24th March.