The Hannah Dennis Alopecia Awareness Award

About the Award

At Alopecia UK, we are very lucky to be in touch with some fabulous young people who work hard to raise awareness of alopecia. This might involve raising awareness in their school or college, or spreading the word in their local community and/or fundraising for Alopecia UK.

The Hannah Dennis Alopecia Awareness Award is given out annually to a child or young person (aged 3-23) in recognition of their efforts to raise awareness of alopecia, whilst honouring the memory of a wonderful friend to Alopecia UK, Hannah Dennis.

About Hannah

Hannah Dennis was a much-loved volunteer and supporter of Alopecia UK who sadly passed away in 2018, following a long illness, at the age of 23. Hannah did so much in her life to raise awareness of alopecia after she was diagnosed with alopecia areata at the age of 14, losing all her hair at the age of 16.

Hannah created videos on YouTube to help others with alopecia and to raise awareness of the condition. Hannah was a proud champion of Alopecia UK and would regularly signpost her own followers back to the charity and raise awareness of our work.

We first met Hannah at a meet and greet event with cyclist Joanna Rowsell in early 2013. Hannah represented Alopecia UK in a research project, with the University of Oxford, developing online resources for young people with skin conditions. She also provided email support to other young people.

Hannah attended two of our Big Weekend events and was a popular attendee, always with a smile and kind words for others. Hannah was very active on social media, sharing advice and raising the profile of alopecia. She also participated in a local media article about having alopecia.

Alopecia UK is extremely proud to continue Hannah’s legacy of alopecia awareness and ensure her contributions to the alopecia community are never forgotten. You can read more about Hannah in this story shared by her parents, Elaine and Stephen. 

Previous winners

We first awarded the Hannah Dennis Alopecia Awareness Award in 2020 and to date there have been six brilliant winners; Bonnie, Jessica, Delena, Cameron, Tommy and Phoebe. 

How to nominate a young person for the award

To be eligible, the nominee will have participated in some alopecia awareness activity in the 12 months prior to the date of nomination. Nominees must be aged 3 -23 and live in the UK (including the Channel Islands). 

Nominations for the 2026 award are now open.

Our online nomination form will open on Sunday 3rd May 2026 and will close on Sunday 19th July 2026. 

The Judging Process

Nominations received will be judged by a panel that includes Hannah’s parents Stephen and Elaine Dennis, Alopecia UK’s founder Vicky Rees, and members of the Alopecia UK staff and trustee team. 

The winner of the Hannah Dennis Alopecia Awareness Award is not chosen from the number of votes/nominations received for an individual but from the information given in a nomination. We encourage that one strong nomination is sent in per nominee. All it could take is for one nomination that really shows the judging panel how that nominee has raised alopecia awareness and made a difference!

Winners are announced each September during Alopecia Awareness Month.