Medical student Lauren Waterman, 19, has been crowned Hertfordshire’s top volunteer. She took the top £2,000 prize at the recent Young People of the Year and Youth Community Safety Awards.

Miss Waterman, of New Street Village, has devoted the past five years to volunteering, in addition to her academic studies. She has given her time to more than 10 organisations, including Crisis, the homeless charity; a variety of old peoples’ homes; and ActOne ArtsBase, a Hertfordshire-based theatre company providing workshops for disabled and non-disabled young people aged five to 19.

She has also worked with and raised funds for Romanian orphans and street children in Ecuador.

“A little time can go a long way,” Miss Waterman tells People. “Even if you give one or two hours a week to a local retirement home, people appreciate it.”

Currently in her first year of studying medicine at Imperial College, London, she says: “University is a good place to do fundraising, as although students do not have much money, there are a lot of them.” She adds: “I have always found the people who get the most done are the people who do the most.”

She is a member of Welwyn Garden City Hebrew Congregation.