Owen Bond, a Year 11 student at Thornleigh Salesian College, Bolton, received a Barbara Ward Award for Caring for the Environment this week at the Celebrating Young People Awards in London this week. Owen is pictured with Maria Pavlovski, the teacher who nominated him.

In a society where we too often devalue our younger members, the Celebrating Young People Awards was devised by Million Minutes, an organisation inspired by Catholic Social Teaching, to recognise the inspirational efforts of the remarkable young people in contributing to community life and making our world a better place.

As the leader of the College's ECO Group, Owen and his team do all they can to enhance the school's environment, including fundraising to cover the costs of their improvements. He campaigned to reduce litter around the school by delivering assemblies - from a bin! Owen has also worked with the school and the local authorities refuse department to introduce recycling in the canteen.

Read more about Owen's remarkable achievements on the Million Minutes website