VOLUNTEERS will help children who need support and encouragement at Stourport High School in a scheme to begin in September.

The mentor scheme has been made possible thanks to Community Action Newtown, which has been awarded £12,000 from Community First, a fund for children and young people.

Bewdley-based charity, Mentor Link, will organise the two-year project that is due to start at the beginning of the new school year.

The group, which already helps 80 children at four Wyre Forest schools, will recruit and train potential volunteers from the community. Mentors will go into the school each week and "befriend, support and encourage" young adults facing issues like bullying, family illness or parental separation.

Andrea Maddocks, Mentor Link chief executive, said, "Anybody can get involved, even if they only have a few hours a week to spare. We will have some training through the summer and at the start of next term but it doesn't stop there. All our volunteers receive ongoing support."

Deputy head at Stourport High School, Mike Humphreys, said: "I think it will make a profound difference for the students involved. It will address a gap that currently exists in helping pupils link with the community and will improve that gap between education and work."

The project is especially aiming to recruit mentors with backgrounds in engineering, gardening or mechanics following the success of such practical mentors at other schools.

Jill Fairbrother Millis, of Community Action Newtown, said: "This is a really exciting community-based project to run for the first time within Stourport High School."

For further information on becoming a mentor, contact Andrea Maddocks on 07855 940141.