A 16-year-old Loxwood girl who has endured 23 operations and is in constant pain has received a national award after setting up her own charity to bring joy to the lives of other seriously ill children.
Megan Bhari went to London to receive the Stagecoach Theatre Arts Young Citizen award which was presented by Nigel Lindsay, star of Shrek the Musical.
The awards, launched last year at the House of Commons, are organised by Stagecoach Theatre Arts and were established to recognise, acknowledge and reward young people from all walks of life who have faced adversity, shown courage, cared for others and proved they are good role models for young people.
Megan designed and built the website for her charity, Believe in Magic, set up national raffles to raise funds and has more than 6,000 followers on Twitter. The charity recently organised a children’s party at the world famous Hamleys children’s store in London.
Judges for Stagecoach called Megan ‘a truly inspirational young lady’.
The teenager said: “Running Believe in Magic takes a lot of hard work but it is so incredibly worth it to see the children so happy and give them a chance to forget about being poorly for a little while. We have another wonderful party for 30 children in February which will be taking up the whole of Hamleys Toy Shop.”
Fundraising and donations play an important part, with many celebrities including the cast of the Harry Potter films donning Believe in Magic charity wristbands.
Her mother Jean said she ‘couldn’t be more proud’ of her brave daughter.