A GROUP of students from an Andover school have been selected to take part in an inspirational mentoring programme and tackle loneliness in the area.

Winton Community Academy pupils Mia Bale, Jessica Cook, Grace Ewen and Maci Phippen have been chosen for the AQA Unlocking Potential for young people aged 11 to 19, who have faced personal challenges or disadvantages.

AQA Unlocking Potential students are paired with specially trained mentors who have competed at world-class sporting events - including the Olympics and Paralympics - and have overcome their own significant personal challenges.

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As part of the programme, the students are challenged to deliver a social action project, and the group has called theirs ‘Kids Against Loneliness’.

The group said: “Andover is a town situated around several army bases and a lot of their families live close or in Andover. Military children may find it more difficult to make friends as they may not be in one place for very long, this program could help. There are also several care homes in and around Andover.”

The students carried out research in the Andover community which showed that 40 per cent of young people reported feeling lonely and 75 per cent of care home residents reported feeling severely lonely.

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Their aim is to build a network between students and develop a ‘found family’ using a pen-pal scheme. 

They are initially liaising with primary feeder schools and looking to expand to local care homes and other organisations and build links with the wider community.

“At Winton Community Academy we have volunteers who will join letter writing sessions. These sessions will also benefit the writer by helping them develop their writing skills, improve their mindfulness and ability to focus and help them reduce screen time,” they said.