Published: 18 January 2022

Heather Bryson, 9 years old, is a Rookie Lifeguard and after being inspired by Sir Captain Tom Moore and Joe Wicks, decided to help those who were lonely during the festive period.

Heather, who lives in Scotland, wanted to become a YouTuber and thought she could pair this desire with doing something which would help people all around the globe. After taking exercise classes in her Grandmother’s care home, Heather, with the help of her parents, decided to provide exercise classes for care home residents, care home providers, as well as individuals and says she loves to be able to see people smiling every day.

Heather was nominated for Good Morning Britain’s 1 Million Minutes Young Loneliness Hero Award and on 7^th January Heather received a message from Joe Wicks to congratulate her for being crowned the winner. Heather’s classes reached as far as New Zealand in a bid to tackle the issue of loneliness during the Christmas period.

The 1 Million Minutes campaign was organised by Good Morning Britain to highlight that there are more than 1 million older people who are chronically lonely. Yet it only takes a minute to make someone’s day.

Christmas and the New Year is one of the loneliest times for older people and the campaign asked people to pledge just 30 minutes of their time to help an older person. Heather certainly did that and more.

Huge congratulations to you Heather for your fantastic efforts and for making such a difference.

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Watch Heather receive her award on Good Morning Britain

Find out more about becoming a Rookie Lifeguard