Queen’s Jubilee birthday honours: Twins become youngest recipients
PA MediaTwins who have raised £46,000 for charity have become the youngest recipients of the Queen's birthday honours in her Platinum Jubilee year.
Elena and Ruben Evans-Guillen, from Warrington in Cheshire, completed their first challenge at the age of six, running 100km in a year to raise money for a garden at the town's hospital.
The 11-year-olds have since taken on trekking, kayaking and climbing.
They have been awarded British Empire Medals for services to fundraising.
Elena said being given the honour was "unreal".
"I'm really excited to be getting these awards from the Queen and I'm proud of my brother and myself that we have achieved this much," she said.
She added that keeping the medal secret had been difficult, as it had been "hard not to tell my friends".
Ruben said he had been "really surprised" by the honour.
"My favourite thing about the charity work we do is that we get to help the community and we help other people," he added.
PA MediaTheir father Mark Evans-Guillen, 47, said the family first became involved with fundraising as a focus for the children, who both have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
He said it had been "life-changing" for the family, adding: "I don't know what we would have done without it."
He said it had given them "a focus" and had "bonded us as a family as well".
"If there are any young families who have a similar diagnosis and feel like it is going to be tough and overwhelming, I just hope they would look at Ruben and Elena and take any inspiration, encouragement or ideas from that that they can," he said.
He added that the children's latest challenge, to swim the length of the Channel in aid of the Children's Adventure Farm Trust, was already under way.
"The kids have really put the hard yards in," he said.
"For them, this is just about kids helping kids in its purest sense."
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