President’s Volunteerism & Philanthropy Awards 2026 Introduces New Youth Category to Honour Young Changemakers

Singapore’s President’s Volunteerism & Philanthropy Awards (PVPA) has introduced a new Youth category to recognise young people making a difference in their communities, as 17 winners were honoured across 13 categories at the 2026 awards ceremony.

The new People of Good (Youth) category recognises individuals aged 17 to 25 and aims to encourage young people to develop a lifelong commitment to giving. It complements the existing People of Good (Student) category for individuals aged 16 and below.

The 14th edition of the awards was graced by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam as Guest of Honour, with David Neo, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Education, attending as Special Guest.

Conferred annually by the President of Singapore, the PVPA is the nation’s highest recognition for contributions to giving. The awards recognise individuals, organisations, leaders, communities and cross sector partnerships that demonstrate a commitment to supporting others. This year’s awards covered five pillars: People of Good, Leaders of Good, Organisations of Good, Communities of Good and the prestigious City of Good Award.

The 2026 recipients represent a broad range of causes, from supporting families affected by incarceration and creating employment opportunities for disadvantaged groups to promoting inclusion for people with disabilities and mobilising communities through volunteering and fundraising.

Among the individual recipients is Mohamed Basir Bin Mohamed Shariff, 59, who received the People of Good (Open) award for his work supporting former offenders and their families. Having spent 18 years behind bars across multiple sentences, he now serves as Programme Director at Mawar Community Services without drawing a salary. He speaks at schools and prisons about desistance from crime and addiction, while supporting more than 100 families of former offenders every month through programmes including the Prison Learning Journey and Climb for Good.

Laila Abu Hassan, 68, was recognised in the People of Good (Senior) category for her 22 years of service, including volunteering with MUIS-FITRAH to counsel Muslim women in custody. In 2018, she founded the Nisa Hope Network, an aftercare community that provides religious education and psychosocial support to more than 50 women following their release.

Support for affected families also features in the work of New Life Stories, which received the Communities of Good award for Small and Medium Charities. Its First Contact Programme responds within 72 hours of a parent’s arrest, while its Autonomous Tele-Visit System Pod, developed in partnership with the Singapore Prison Service, helps families maintain contact during incarceration. Through trauma informed counselling, parenting support in prisons and weekly child befriending, the organisation reached 732 individuals in 2025.

Abry Pte. Ltd., which received the Organisations of Good award for Small, Medium and Social Enterprise, provides training and employment opportunities for people facing barriers to work, including former offenders, single mothers and persons with disabilities. The social enterprise has trained and employed 40 individuals to date.

Other recipients demonstrate how personal interests and professional skills can be used to benefit the wider community. Tay Joo Thong, 80, a People of Good (Senior) award recipient, delivers food weekly to St Andrew’s Autism Centre, cleans waterways and estates, and serves as a Clean & Green Ambassador with the National Environment Agency. He has also written books about Singapore’s broadcasting heritage and climate action, and launched a fundraising campaign for the Goh Chok Tong Enable Fund.

Youth led initiative Project Obscura received the Communities of Good award in the Groundup category for making professional photography accessible to underserved communities. Over three years, the initiative has photographed more than 170 events, mobilised over 330 volunteers and delivered more than 50,000 photographs to charities and beneficiaries.

Go!Mama, a joint winner in the Organisations of Good category for Small, Medium and Social Enterprise, was inspired by its founder’s difficulty finding a clean and private space to breastfeed her child. The initiative has since established a network of more than 100 lactation pods across Singapore, providing nursing mothers with accessible spaces for breastfeeding.

Kuok (Singapore) Limited received the Organisations of Good award for Large Enterprise after running 42 community initiatives in Singapore in 2025, involving more than 700 employees. Its efforts include funding the SUTD Centre of Sustainability, supporting conservation at Mandai Wildlife Reserve and partnering with educational institutions and Workforce Singapore to develop workforce skills.

Promoting greater independence for people with disabilities is another key area recognised by the awards. Ooi Sze Jin, 34, received the Leaders of Good award in the Young Adult category for founding A Kind Place in 2021. The organisation supports people with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities and autism through programmes designed to develop independent living skills.

Its Independent Adult Programme has supported more than 300 individuals across eight cohorts. About 80 per cent of participants progressed to employment, Day Activity Centres or sheltered workshops, while caregivers reported greater stability and, in some cases, were able to return to work.

Yvette Devi Chandra, 38, received the Leaders of Good award in the Open category for her work with the Para Cycling Federation of Singapore, where she has volunteered for 17 years and now serves as president. Under her leadership, the federation has grown from nine athletes and a small group of volunteers to 40 athletes, eight coaches and around 76 volunteers. Her advocacy has also helped Singaporean para-athletes access international competition, including supporting their classification in Switzerland for the first time.

The awards also recognise organisations that encourage others to participate in giving. SHINE Children and Youth Services, which received the Communities of Good award for Large Charity, provides early intervention and coordinated support through five flagship programmes. Its Reading Odyssey initiative has expanded from two communities in 2015 to 21, reaching more than 1,900 children with help from over 1,800 trained volunteers.

Temasek Polytechnic, the winner in the Organisations of Good category for Public Institution, has promoted giving among students and staff since 1991 through initiatives such as its Seniors Befriending Programme and support for charities including Food from the Heart. In financial year 2025, the institution reached more than 2,600 beneficiaries through 430 volunteers, while close to 97 per cent of staff gave regularly through SGSHARE.

Groundup Peace of Art, Singapore Red Cross and City Developments Limited received the City of Good Award for their multi sector partnership behind the 60 Lights, One Future campaign. The initiative encouraged individuals and businesses to mobilise their networks for fundraising, collectively raising more than S$468,000 for the Singapore Red Cross Young Hearts Programme.

The introduction of the Youth category places a particular spotlight on younger Singaporeans who are developing new ways to contribute to society. One recipient is Shoken Tsurumaru, 17, a Singapore permanent resident who founded Giveinstead.sg, a non-profit platform registered with giving.sg that turns occasions such as birthdays, weddings and Christmas into opportunities for charitable donations. Since launching in 2023, the platform has raised more than S$236,000 through 78 campaigns supporting 21 charity partners.

The other Youth category recipient, Ashsufi Hussin, 23, founded the BrightGuides Programme, which provides free mathematics tuition for less privileged primary and secondary school students. What began as an independent pilot has grown into a youth led initiative with more than 40 volunteers supporting over 25 students. During the pilot phase, more than half of the students improved by at least one grade.

Students are also making their mark through community service and advocacy. Wong Sze Wai, 15, from Spectra Secondary School, received the People of Good (Student) award for initiatives including Sportacus, a weekly after school sports programme serving around 40 schoolmates. As president of her school’s Food-For-The-Heart distribution drive, she manages volunteer deployment for an initiative that benefits about 100 families per run. She also participates in conservation and road safety awareness efforts and initiatives to redesign daily living spaces for students with cerebral palsy.

Fellow student recipient Charlene Poh Qing Wei, 16, from Raffles Girls’ School, leads RGSmile, a student chapter supporting free cleft surgeries across Asia through Smile Asia. She also founded Project Haemoglobin, a blood donation advocacy initiative that has grown to around 80 volunteers in 2026. Her efforts culminated in Smile Fiesta, a charity run and cleft carnival that attracted 800 runners and raised more than S$12,000 for post operative care.

Together, the PVPA 2026 recipients demonstrate how giving can take many forms, from personal acts of service and youth led initiatives to corporate support and partnerships across different sectors. The new Youth category further highlights the role young people can play in building a more caring and inclusive society, while encouraging giving to become a lifelong commitment across generations.