A young girl born with a birth defect which resulted in her being bullied at school has been recognised for her bravery at the National Happiness Awards.

Hollie-Grace Gough, of Lincoln Road, Maidstone, came second in the Happiest Child category at a ceremony on Friday in London.

Fellow pupils at Greenfields Primary School, in Oxford Road, and the youngster's family members nominated her for the award to recognise her bravery and her battle with bullying.

The 10-year-old was born with a cleft lip and palate - a congenital disorder which leaves children with a gap or split in the upper lip and/or roof of the mouth.

Since birth, Hollie-Grace has had more than four operations to correct it.

As well as this, she has a hearing impairment and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - a behavioural condition that causes inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness.

Her condition left her with very little confidence and she was tormented by children at school but in recent years her mum, Nikki Gough, says she has come out of her shell.

The 38-year-old said her daughter was at an all-time low when she was bullied at Molehill Primary School, in Hereford Road.

She recalled how Hollie-Grace would "scream the house down" every morning before school.

"It was horrible and upsetting. It started with name-calling and then she was physically bullied. I applied to the council to get her moved and she was out within three days."

Since joining Greenfields, aged seven, her mother said she has come on leaps and bounds - performing in her first Christmas concert instead of sitting on the edge crying with the teachers.

"I went to the church to support her. When she started to sing it was pretty amazing. It was a massive achievement for her."

At the awards ceremony, hosted by Laughology - an organisation which provides training programmes to improve performance within businesses - Hollie-Grace got up on stage alone to collect her certificate in front of 250 people.

Her mum said: "It was really huge for her. The transformation in her is amazing and it is nice that people can see that she is such a confident little girl now."

Dave McPartlin, headteacher at Flakefleet Primary School, Lancashire, which received a golden buzzer for their choir performance on Britain's Got Talent this year, joined attendees at the London event and presented her with the award.

In a bid to rectify her condition, Hollie-Grace has an operation coming up, which will see bones from her hips taken to reconstruct her upper jaw.

On down days, she often asks her mother why this condition happened to her.

Mrs Gough said: "Sometimes you don't have answers and you just have to give them a hug and tell them you think they are amazing and that everything is going to be alright."

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