Teenage fundraiser recognised in New Year Honours for tireless charity work
He is too young to vote, but Louis Johnson heads a list of West Midlands unsung heroes honoured in the King’s New Year Honours.
At 17, he is among the country’s youngest recipients, receiving a British Empire Medal for his tireless charity work.
Louis, of Tettenhall Wood, Wolverhampton, has raised more than £75,000 for 18 charities.
He has been awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to the community in Wolverhampton.
The City of Wolverhampton College student, who is studying uniformed public services and wants to join the police force when he is older, has received numerous awards for his fundraising efforts, which started from the age of two.
He has taken on fundraising walks, abseils, bike rides, set up stalls and raffles and even sat in a bath of beans.
Charities and good causes in the West Midlands that have benefited have included Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Mary Stevens Hospice, the Good Shepherd in Wolverhampton and Compton Care, among many others.
The teenager, who has also suffered with a number of health issues and is due to have a chest operation next year, said the honour felt “unbelievable”.
He said: "I couldn't believe it, I really couldn't. It set in once I saw the letters and the emails and stuff and it's just unbelievable.
"It all started when I was very, very little doing Barnardo's walks with my mum that she used to set up and then it's just expanded from there, from me wanting to do the annual memory walks for a hospice that my nan was in, to going to 18 different charities and raising about £75,000 in total.
"I didn't think I'd be where I am at at the moment. I've from a young age been doing my fundraising but over the years it's exploded, it's got bigger and bigger."
Louis’s mother, Teresa Johnson, said: "He's one of the youngest recipients. I'm so proud of him.
"He's had to deal with health issues too. He has pectus excavatum, so his heart and lungs are squashed, he needs an operation to pull his chest out.
"It's not NHS funded, so we've been fighting for years to get him the operation and he's now on a clinical trial and we're hoping he can have his operation before next summer."
