A student who has taken time away from her university studies to volunteer at a hospice in St Albans has been nominated for an award.

Ashwini Ponnampalam, 19, who is studying law at Cambridge University, entered herself for the University of Hertfordshire Young People of the Year award, (YOPEY), which highlights the hard work of young people in their community.

Ashwini is one of a group of students, which also included William Benjamin, Callum Jones, Andrew Goldsmith, Rachel Kwiatkowski and Will Russell, who were asked to go the extra mile for Grove House Hospice Care, Waverley Road, as part of an internship for consulting firm Aon Hewitt.

The Grove House hospice cares for people with long-term conditions. She said: "After being selected as a summer intern for Aon Hewitt, our group was assigned the Iain Rennie Grove House Hospice.

"We could see directly how our work was helping the charity and after all many hands make light work.

"We hope that our efforts made a difference to the Iain Rennie Grove House Hospice Care charity because they are so deserving, through the worthwhile work they do."

The students fundraised by baking cakes and making sandwiches as well as collecting clothes for donation.

They were also on hand to provide a bit of muscle in the hospice gardens and spread the word using Twitter and Facebook.

Under the guidance of Sue Hobley, the volunteer garden co-ordinator, the students refurbished three benches, pruned hedges and cleared large overgrown areas of the garden.

Ashwini is now in the running to win £2,000 in the Hertfordshire contest that aims to recognise young heroes.

Ashwini said: "It was a key part of our team plan to offer all the help that we could, to enable Grove House Hospice to provide the care, support and facilities that so many families rely on.

"It was an invaluable experience to me. Helping such a deserving cause and aiming to make a difference were two incredibly motivating factors.

"Our team pushed ourselves to think of innovative and useful ideas to help the organisation.

"I loved being able to help in so many different ways because I felt it showed our appreciation of the diversity of the work, as well as reflecting the incredible work out in by all their volunteers. "

Ashwini has also been volunteering on a weekly basis at a local Save the Children shop since 2008.

She collects and takes part in Christmas fundraising activities for Save the Children.

The YOPEY contest was created by former national newspaper journalist Tony Gearing, to give younger generations a fairer image and encourage young people to give to the community.

The Hertfordshire Young Person of the Year will win £800, with £400 for themselves and £400 for their good cause.

The awards ceremony will be hosted by the University of Hertfordshire in November.

To nominate a young person for YOPEY, logon on to yopey.org or write to YOPEY, PO Box 236, Newmarket CB8 1DP for paper entry form.