THE international volunteers who helped Adam Yaris in the refugee camp in Darfur stuck in his mind when he arrived in England in 2007.

"I wondered why," he said, "why they really cared about us when the Sudanese government did not.

"I asked, 'Why did you come all this way, to a place that people are trying to escape?'"

Volunteering himself seemed a good way both to find out and to help him settle into his new home country. So Adam, now 21, beat a path to the door of Croydon Voluntary Action, where he was sent on his first volunteer project, visiting elderly people in the borough.

"We wanted to bridge the gap between young and old," he said. "We said to them, 'Tell us what you don't like'. They said, 'The music and the attitudes'. We had honest meetings."

Soon taking on bigger projects, in 2009 Adam started the Green Hope Campaign at Croydon College, where he was doing his A levels.

"I was motivated by the fact that people are not aware of the global effect of their actions", says Adam, who lives in Thornton Heath.

Rallying thousands of students, Adam led a revolution in the college's environmental habits. By making small changes such as switching off unused computers and getting new recycling bins, they cut the college's carbon emissions by ten per cent.

"Students are carrying on with the work," says Adam. "It's amazing; it is a legacy."

The college awarded Adam Citizenship Champion Status for his campaign, the first accolade of many.

He is a finalist in this year's national youth volunteer awards, run by charity vInspired. The winner will be announced at a ceremony in March.

"Volunteering has opened doors for me," says Adam, "and I have learned a lot about other people and being part of my community.

"It is also a way of saying thank you to the people who helped me when I arrived."

Studying international relations at Goldsmiths, University of London, Adam reads "mainly politics" in his spare time, and plans a career in humanitarian work.

And he says he is closer to understanding why those volunteers risked their lives in war-torn Darfur.

"It is human values," he says, "to help people who need help in order to get somewhere or achieve something.

"All I can say is, some people helped me and, without their help, I would not be where I am today."