A WORCESTER student only just had time to pick up her national award before rushing off to attend an international conference on climate change.

Katie Haywood, aged 17, who attends the Royal Grammar School in Worcester, won the Eco category in the Vinspired National Awards for her environmental work on Thursday evening in London – and by Friday afternoon was jetting-off to Copenhagen for the UNICEF Children’s Climate Change Forum in Copenhagen.

She had been shortlisted for the award because of her work in and around Worcester.

She organised the Hands Up campaign, during which she collected more than 350 messages from around Worcestershire to show that her community really does care about climate change – it was put on display at CrownGate Shopping Centre, Worcester.

Miss Haywood was also a member of a project called The Hive, based at Worcester Volunteer Centre, in the Tything, in which she worked on a project to build an eco-friendly community centre in the city.

She beat the five regional winners to get the award, which was presented to her by singer Gabriella Climi at London’s IndigO2. She said:”It was a really good night – very glamorous, and there were quite a few celebs. I got the first award of the night so I was pretty nervous, but it was really good to be around so many inspiring young people.”

The awards were organised by v, the national young volunteers service.

Miss Haywood, from Acton, near Stourport, flew out to Copenhagen with three other British representatives to attend the international event, which will bring together 160 young people from 44 countries around the world to discuss climate change.

She said: “Climate change is an issue that really affects young people and we will be the ones who will be dealing with this problem in the future.”

The conference will run for 10 days, at the end of which a manifesto written by the delegates will be handed over to the more highly publicised United Nations Conference on Climate Change – which will be attended by world leaders like Barack Obama.

Miss Haywood, who hopes to study land economy at Cambridge University after she completes her A-levels, said: “At the Conference on Climate Change, world leaders will be making decisions about my generation’s future – our voices will hopefully remind them of the urgency of the situation we are facing.

“I want to urge leaders to take decisive action against climate change and reassure them that my generation is ready for change.”

Miss Haywood gained her place at the Copenhagen conference after completing a tough selection process, which included filmed testimonies, essay-writing and interviews, beating 140 other young people from around the UK .