A Legacy Beyond the Award - The Diana Experience

It is often hindsight that allows us to reflect on a pivotal turning point in our life. However, with less than 24 hours since the Diana Legacy Award Experience, I knew that this week will be one I will tell my grandkids about as they perch around me in old age. Writing is powerful and as I scribble, I am reliving memories and noticing the nuances of each moment, some of which only my subconscious noted at the time.

I repeated this over and over again during the week - there is no competition or envy in social action work; only pride, inspiration and scope for collaboration. It is easy when you are around others who have achieved so much to retreat in your shell and feel like an imposter. But to me, I was in awe and hungry to learn from each of them.

Going into the week, my biggest goal was to be completely present in the moment and build meaningful connections. Prior to attending, I wrote in the letter to myself:

All I know is that this cosmic configuration, this combination of mission-driven humans and this culmination of positive energy can only result in something beautiful.

And after the week, I found myself looking through the Instagram stories and posts, seeing our cheeky smiles and shenanigans, I know I found my tribe and made friends for life.

Another facet to capture is the variation in each of the award winner's journeys and the social problem they were addressing. This formed an exquisite interdisciplinary space to learn from and genuinely think freely. I got advice and perspective on the current challenges I face with ZNotes that would have been impossible to get if I remained in the silo of education and ed-tech.

I have made some sweeping remarks and you may be asking - what exactly happened? As part of the honour of receiving the Diana Legacy Award, the charity organised a week-long residential for the award winners to be immersed in a bespoke programme of events and activities to enhance our personal and professional development as leaders.

On Sunday, with bags packed like I am heading off for the airport, I made my way a couple of miles from East to West London and checked in at the Hilton Kensington. A little nervous, we got to meet the rest of us who had checked in at dinner where we slowly began to discover each other's work. With our itinerary quite packed, my daily runs were reserved for early mornings. Off I went the next morning with the sky still dark but which ruptured into pinks and oranges as the sun rose through the clouds and I reached magnificent Holland Park.

After induction, we head to Holborn to meet with our future mentor from Gilead Science over a delicious Turkish lunch. Then back for an interactive workshop on 'Communicating your Story' with the Speaker's Trust.

The night wasn't over though as we went up for our outfit change and whisked away to Galvin at Windows - a rooftop restaurant with 28th-floor views over Hyde Park.

The aesthetic was elegant and Winter Wonderland glittered up through the floor-to-ceiling windows. I probably used the wrong cutlery but regardless of the fineries, the dinner was memorable more for the conversations we had. I had the pleasure of being sat with some of the judges and to know these were the people who championed you as one of twenty from thousands was humbling.

Tuesday was more workshop-intensive as we worked on Goal Setting, Managing Stress, Leadership Development and Building a Better Network - each led by industry experts. Dinner was a more informal affair at Balan's as we chatted and reflected on all that we had heard and learnt.

The next day, we were out and about after Media Training in the morning. Near from where we were staying, we took a bus to do the public tour of Kensington Palace after our visit to the restricted areas when meeting the prince last week.

After lunch, we had a session on 'Dress for Success' that some of the award-winners got to take part in. It was also the moment where we got to meet the 2019 Legacy Award Winners - the previous cohort.

It was great to hear about their experiences of the award, the 2 years of development, and what they had got out of it. It was like getting insider knowledge! The fact that the previous winners are engaged and still involved is a great sign that this is not simply a moment but an experience and family we now belong to.

Now halfway through, my energy levels dropped that evening and when I returned, I went back to my room and spoke to mama. With all the workshops we were engaging in as well as the time spent together, I needed to recover. This surprised me as I often considered myself to be extroverted and energised in a crowd. But a little space had me back up again.

Thursday was the big day - our awards ceremony. The ceremony was hosted by Lord Spencer at Althorp House, Princess Diana's childhood home. This was in Northampton and we were to take a train from Euston there.

An aside to share. Over the last few days, we have become notorious for not being on time. Not great, I know, and it had caused delays in our intricately planned itinerary. The team took this into account and ensured we were at the station over an hour before the train was to depart. We kept ourselves entertained with an amazing pianist in our group and were boarded not before long.

The estate sprawled across 13,000 acres (about twice the area of JFK Airport)?and our journey continued in a taxi through the undulating British countryside. After the past few days being chillier and wet, the weather pulled itself together and we were welcomed with a glorious blue sky and cotton-candy-like clouds that floated lazily, revealing shafts of sun rays.

Fittingly, we had been assigned the stables (converted into a cafe) as a space to get ready. Soon, we were invited into the main home where we met Lord Spencer and had afternoon tea in a grand room on monogrammed plates and cutlery.

As Lord Spencer is a reputable historian, he then gave us a tour of the bottom floor of the house which was more like a museum with all the art and sculptures on display including a hot chocolate set that Marie Antoinette had used.

Back to the stables where we spent the next couple of hours getting ready. At the end of it, there was consensus - we clean up nice.

Outside, darkness had fallen and it was gently drizzling. We made our way back into the stately home for a photoshoot - together as a group, then individually.

In the past days, we'd heard about a special construction project that had been going on at Althorp in preparation for us. The awards ceremony was to take place in a marquee set in the deer park. But the obstacle of a ha-ha would be faced by the guests.

You wonder: what is Zubair going on about... a ha-ha? Well, it is a landscape design - a recession in the ground that creates a vertical barrier while preserving an uninterrupted view of the landscape. Marvellous yet a little cumbersome for hundreds of guests to cross in their fineries. So, a temporary bridge had been put up and we finally came to see it as we walked out of the house to a path lit by fairy lights.

Over the ha-ha and into the marquee whose ceiling was lit up like stars and the sides transparent offering views of the outside. A seating map guided us to each of our tables and banners described the case study of each of the 20 award recipients.

Settled with our guests, we heard from Lord Spencer about the memories of his sister and Tesse Ojo, the CEO of The Diana Award. This was followed by dinner and then the main event - the awards ceremony. For each winner, a 60-second video was played describing their work and achievements. I must say, even having spent the last few days with them, there were tears in my eyes and I felt so privileged to have known them so closely for all that they have overcome and yet still achieved. For each, we gave a standing ovation.

Each award winner went up on stage to the song that they had picked out and as Mika belted out "I could be brown, I could be blue...", it was my turn to walk up to the stage. We often talk about how time slows down and at that moment, it did. Those few seconds stretched and as I walked up, I was reminded of how much this recognition represented - everyone who had taken a chance on a naive boy and said yes when no was so much easier. My team. My mentors. My family.

That heavy glass cube trophy was also a metaphor for the weight and responsibility that comes with such an honour. But picking out the faces of the other award winners smiling back at me, it was also reassuring to know that I had found the people who would be with me on this journey.