Death of Queen Elizabeth II: The charity leader she inspired to success

Alex Holmes said the Queen took the time to speak to every award-winner

A man who overcame bullying has told of how a meeting with the Queen inspired him to go on to lead a charity.

Alex Holmes received an award from Her Majesty in 2017 for an anti-bullying project he set up and then took to schools across the UK and abroad.

He said the encounter with the Queen gave him the "confidence" and "enthusiasm" to expand his work.

He also told BBC London she "immediately made me feel at ease" with her humour, generosity and empathy.

Mr Holmes' meeting with the Queen came after he was invited on to her Young Leaders programme, which recognised "exceptional" young people with leadership roles in their communities.

"It gave me the confidence, it improved my self-capability and it gave me enthusiasm as well, I think," he said of the encounter.

• The Queen said she was proud of me

Mr Holmes said it felt "very special" to be part of the scheme, especially as the Queen had herself been a leader from a young age.

"I think there is something about royal recognition, particularly from the Queen, because she is a real example of service and and I think a real leader that you can look up to. So it's certainly in inspired me in that sense.

"It also gave me a network of other young leaders. I think the Queen knew that it can be quite lonely being a leader."

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended the Queen's Young Leaders award ceremony in 2018

The Young Leaders scheme ended with a glitzy award ceremony at Buckingham Palace, hosted by the Queen and Prince Harry and attended by youngsters from every Commonwealth country.

"The Queen immediately put me at ease and she had a bit of banter by saying to me, 'you haven't had very far to come, have you?', and, you know, that kind of resulted in us both laughing and made me feel a lot more relaxed," Mr Holmes said. "I love the fact she was able to inject a bit of humour."

He said they then talked about bullying and its link with poor mental health, which he had experienced at a younger age, and she said it "needed more attention".

Mr Holmes also recalled how the Queen was "too generous with her time", stopping to talk to each award-winner at length, causing a live BBC broadcast to be delayed.

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