A North Yorkshire schoolgirl has earned a prestigious national award for an outstanding contribution to her community.

Jacki Appleton, 13, a pupil at Easingwold School, won the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Award after friends Alice Fenton and Sammy Nutbrown recommended her to head teacher Carey Chidwick for nomination.

Jacki's commitment to helping others was exemplified by her invaluable assistance given to two people suffering from a terminal illness, one a neighbour and the other Jacki's grandmother.

Visiting both regularly, Jacki did whatever she could to help, including cooking, shopping and simply talking to them, and when her neighbour was taken to hospital in Leeds, Jacki went with her mother to visit at least every other day.

Said Jacki: "My friend asked me if it would be all right to nominate me, so I knew that it was coming up. But it was a big surprise to win. I'm really pleased."

Headteacher Mrs Chidwick presented the award to Jacki at a school assembly.

The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Award was launched almost exactly a year ago to recognise the outstanding contributions made by secondary school pupils to their schools and communities. More than 1,000 pupils have received awards.

Updated: 11:30 Thursday, April 05, 2001