Kirsten Urquhart awarded British Empire Medal in Queen’s Birthday Honours List

We’re incredibly proud of Kirsten Urquhart, Digital Information Director at Young Scot, on receiving a British Empire Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2020. Kirsten’s award is for services to young people in Scotland during the COVID-19 lockdown.

I’m incredibly humbled to be recognised with a British Empire Medal for supporting young people in Scotland during the COVID-19 crisis. Leading such a dedicated and talented digital team at Young Scot is a real honour. Kirsten Urquhart BEM, Digital Information Director, Young Scot

Here at Young Scot, as we anticipated the scale of the COVID-19 crisis, Kirsten and the Digital Information team she leads began updating young.scot and our social media channels seven days a week with the latest information for young people. This rapid response work was made possible thanks to support from the Scottish Government.

It was clear that young people were going to be one of the most affected groups. Overnight, they were unable to attend apprenticeships, work or university. Others began taking time off work or studies due to illness or caring for loved ones. For others, school closures got in the way of their exams.

It was easy for young people to feel scared by what they were hearing and there was an urgent need for specialised youth information. Our Digital Information team quickly began publishing quality-assured information on what was happening – including how to avoid catching COVID-19 and spreading it. The team also published information about emotional wellbeing, and how to support others in the community. The information was shared in the digital spaces young people spend their time in – Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.

The #YSCOVID19Info youth information and social media outreach reached all corners of Scotland and has been extremely well received. Feedback from young people and stakeholders has been overwhelmingly positive – especially the live Q&A sessions with the First Minister.

Such has been the impact of Kirsten and the team’s work, they were nominated for the ‘Big Impact Award’ at this year’s Third Sector Awards. This is further testament to the importance of this work to support young people with information during the COVID-19 crisis.