Swathi Rajagopal

I would like to nominate Swathi for the position of torchbearer due to her contribution to the community and charity work. For four years she worked with developmentally disabled students from NASH College, Croydon, for a few hours each week, engaging them in a variety of stimulating and fun activities. She has done a lot of fundraising over the years from busking with friends to raise money for 'Children in Need' (reaching over £800!) to swimming the equivalent length of the English channel raising money for 'Aspire', a charity assisting people with spinal cord injuries. Swathi has also volunteered at 'Vitalise' for 2 weeks, helping to change, feed and entertain disabled residents to ensure they have an enjoyable stay. She received her gold Duke of Edinburgh award in St. James' palace recently for her participation in these and other activities and is currently in Thailand involved in a 6-week volunteering project, teaching English at a school in the province of Chiang Mai. I believe she is a role model for younger members of the community and deserves recognition and appreciation for her hard work and this is a brilliant opportunity.