16-year-old Oliver Pearson, whose dad serves in the Royal Signals, has been awarded the medal by the military children’s charity Little Troopers.
Oliver, who lives in Fulford, has been named Little Trooper of the Month after achieving good grades in his GCSEs despite moving to six different schools during his childhood due to his dad’s military career.
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Oliver was born in Germany where his dad was serving in the Royal Signals.
He started school in Germany, before moving to the UK in 2015, aged seven. Since then, he’s attended two further primary schools and three different secondary schools, as his family moved around the country whenever his dad was assigned a new military posting.
In 2020, Oliver had just started a new school in Year 7 when the country was plunged into lockdown.
Oliver’s latest school move was just last year, while the family moved to York and Oliver started at Millthorpe School in South Bank, midway through his GCSE studies.
He had to drop a subject because his new school wasn’t offering it and then took extra lessons in engineering to fill the gaps in his timetable.
Despite the disruption to his GCSE plans, Oliver managed to achieve good grades in all seven of his GCSE subjects. He now hopes to follow in his dad’s military footsteps and has applied for an RAF apprenticeship.
Oliver will receive a medal and gift voucher from the charity Little Troopers, which supports young people who have parents serving in the British Armed Forces and are faced with unique challenges growing up in the forces community.
Oliver’s Mum, Jacqueline, nominated him for the charity award and said: “We are so incredibly proud of Oliver. It’s not been easy for him moving home all the time, but he has always taken it in his stride and has grown into a confident young man, as well as an amazing older sibling to his brother Harry and sister Emma.
“He really threw himself into his GCSE studies and faced into the challenge with determination. He’s an inspiration to us all and we wish him all the luck in the world as he follows his dreams and continues to take on new adventures.”
Louise Fetigan, founder of Little Troopers, said: “Oliver’s story highlights just how challenging it can be to grow up in the Armed Forces. Many of us find change hard, so to navigate moving to a different country at a young age and attending multiple different schools while still achieving brilliant qualifications is no less than amazing.
“We think Oliver deserves to recognised for being resilient and determined and we hope he keeps his Little Troopers medal as a reminder of everything he has achieved.”
Little Troopers is a registered charity supporting children who have parents serving in the British Armed Forces.
