Swimming teacher who beat fear of water honoured

Trish Caswell said she had seen women go from not being able to swim to having confidence in the water

A woman who overcame her fear to dive in and teach others to swim is one of the winners in the BBC Radio Northampton Make a Difference Awards 2025.

Trish Caswell, a part-time worker and volunteer at the United African Association charity, based in Northampton, trained as an instructor so courses for women from the African community could continue.

She has helped 200 learn to swim, including a woman whose son drowned in an African river.

Ms Caswell, who won the Active award, said she was an "honorary African" and the prize was a "tribute to all the ladies".

She said when she was about three, she was knocked unconscious by wave while swimming in the sea, and was rescued by her dad.

But over two years ago she trained for 10 months to became a swimming instructor, when the group did not have one.

Many of the learners "start from scratch", she said.

"It's just lovely to see them, to inspire them and see them grow."

"[The award is] a tribute to all the ladies; if they didn't want to swim, I wouldn't be able to help them, so it works both ways. I'm very honoured".

The charity said: "She makes the sessions such fun as well with games, and there is such a deep feeling of spurring each other on and celebrating our achievements.

"Trish has become our African sister who has provided valuable life-saving skills."

Michal Wojcik said it was "fantastic" to be nominated and to go on and win the Young Hero Award

The winner of the Young Hero award was presented to 15-year-old Michal Wojcik, from Northampton.

He was nominated by his mother, Beata, for "his kindness, resilience, and dedication to his younger brother, Jakob, who has cystic fibrosis (CF) and type 1 diabetes", she said.

"Whatever he does, he always has other people at heart and is always looking for solutions when grown-ups are not seeing the issue."

Michal said he thought he won the award because "I do quite a lot of activities outside; I volunteer at a lot of places".

He has recently joined the youth advisory group for Cystic Fibrosis Trust, has been appointed as a youth councillor for Northamptonshire Youth Council, and is part of his school's and the Northamptonshire county water polo team.

Jakob said: "I love him so much; he's just the best brother anyone could have.

"It shows how hard he works; how much he's done for the family, the school, the town. It's just incredible and he really deserves it."

Michal said he felt sad when his brother could not what he wanted to do.

He said wanted to make the "world better for him, make him equal with the other kids to be do what he wants to do and not be limited."

The other winners are:

• Animal Award: Roy Marriott, Animals In Need charity

• Fundraiser Award: Chris O'Reilly

• Green Award: Sandra Robinson

• Community Group Award: Northampton Volunteer Car Scheme

• Volunteer Award: Paul Hardwick