Princess Alexandra will present Royal Humane Society Awards at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Thursday 16 October 2008.

The Society awards medals, testimonials and certificates for acts of bravery in the saving of human life and for effecting successful resuscitations.

Recipients at the ceremony will include a boy of eleven who saved his friend from an unprovoked dog attack and a 15-year-old teenager who rescued a man who had jumped from a bridge into a river in an attempt
to end his life. 

Her Royal Highness will also present awards to an eleven-year-old who saved an older boy from drowning in a canal and to a man who, while working in Basra, Iraq, rescued a colleague from a stricken vehicle under heavy and sustained fire.

A posthumous award will be presented by the Princess to the widow of
a man who died from injuries sustained whilst trying to save a farm worker being trampled by a bull.

Founded in 1774 as the "Humane Society for the recovery of persons apparently drowned", the charity made its first award later that year to Thomas Vincent, a waterman, for saving a child who had fallen through
a trapdoor into a drain leading into the river Thames. 

King George III became the organisation's first patron in 1783. 

Today, The Queen is Patron of the Society and Princess Alexandra is President.

Media arrangements
Those wishing to cover the engagement should contact Buckingham Palace Press Office for further information.

Further information
Find out more about the Royal Humane Society (opens in new window)
Find out more about Princess Alexandra