Student beats Rashford to petition campaign award

Ms Muthoni won the award after presenting her petition to MPs

A woman who spoke to MPs about increasing diversity in the national curriculum has received a Petition Campaign of the Year award.

Cynthia Muthoni's petition to "add education on diversity and racism to all school curriculums" received more than 89,000 signatures.

She won the Your UK Parliament Award in a category in which footballer Marcus Rashford was also nominated for his petition to end child food poverty.

She said winning was "unbelievable".

Ms Muthoni, from Oxford, shared the award with Nell Bevan, Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson and Yacoub Yasin, who also organised petitions calling for more black history and cultural diversity to be taught in the curriculum.

The petitions led to a joint inquiry in parliament by the Petitions Committee and the Women and Equalities Committee.

Ms Muthoni said she started the petition following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in the US, which sparked the Black Lives Matter movement across the world.

Rashford was made an MBE after he campaigned to end child food poverty

The masters student at the University of East Anglia said she "definitely had the faith and confidence" she would get the required amount of signatures for the petition to be debated, but added she "did not expect to get an award from it".

"I could not believe it," she said, adding: "It was unbelievable and I'm so grateful."

The 23-year-old also said it felt "surreal" to pip Manchester United forward Rashford to the award, who she described as "amazing".

England star Rashford was made an MBE last year after he campaigned for the government to allow about 1.3 million children to claim free school meal vouchers in England's summer holidays, during the coronavirus pandemic.

Ms Muthoni said the petition would be debated in parliament at a later date.