'True hero' wins BBC Jersey Make a Difference Award

Genette Dagtoglou's support for human rights abuse victims stood out for the judges

A volunteer who welcomes victims of human rights abuses into her home for therapeutic holidays has won the BBC Radio Jersey Make a Difference Award.

Genette Dagtoglou supports the charity Prisoners of Conscience Holiday Fund – Jersey (PoCHFJ).

It pays for those who have been guaranteed refugee status in the UK to come and visit the island.

Judges said "we all agreed fairly quickly" that Mrs Dagtoglou was the standout nominee this year.

The Reverend Dawn Saunders (l), Kaye Nicholoson, Vinod Rajput, and David Kennedy (r) were the judges

The four independent judges were Vinod Rajput from the Jersey Hindu community, the Reverend Dawn Saunders, leader of the Methodist Church in Jersey, Kaye Nicholson from the Liberate Jersey charity and David Kennedy from Jersey Sport.

They looked through more than 50 nominees for the awards and shortlisted four nominees from which they picked the overall winner.

Rev Saunders said: "I'm delighted with the choice I made", while Mr Rajput added: "It was tough initially but we all agreed on the winner".

Ms Nicholson said "we had a lot of commonalities on what we were looking for" and Mr Kennedy added "it was tough but in the end we were all unanimous about the winner".

Abdalle Mumin was one of the refugees who has stayed at Mrs Dagtoglou's home while visiting Jersey

Somali human rights journalist Abdalle Mumin stayed with Mrs Dagtoglou earlier this year.

He was jailed in 2023 for criticising a government ban on "dissemination of extremist and terrorist ideology" because of how it affected freedom of speech.

After his release, he fled to the UK, where he now lives.

Mr Mumin said "I never felt like I was in another country" and "she greeted me at the front door and hugged me, which made me feel very welcome".

He added: "Genette truly deserves this award because she is a true hero to many people around the world, including myself and my family, and I want to say thank you."

Mrs Dagtoglou was with family when she was surprised with the award

Mrs Dagtoglou was surprised when she was presented with the BBC Radio Jersey Make a Difference Award.

She said: "I didn't think anything would come out of it [her nomination] - I haven't done that much, I thought.

"I hadn't fully realised until the last two or three years how much this week in Jersey means to the refugees because of the fun, acceptance and love people here show them and I'm getting a bit weepy thinking about this."

She plans to continue her work with PoCHFJ for as long as she is able.