A YOUNG mum is proving it is great to help as a teenage student is benefitting from her guidance.

Student volunteering week drew to a close at the weekend as organisers celebrated the extra lengths people went to help the less fortunate.

Hannah Barstow, 26, from Middlesbrough, the mother to a six-year-old son, told how she has transformed the life of one girl – as well as her own.

Hannah started her education at Hillsview Academy in Middlesbrough, formally known as Gilbrook Technology College, and is now doing a degree in Psychology at Teesside University.

She began her volunteering work at a hospital where she was working with adults, but she soon realised she wanted go down a different path.

She said: “I used to volunteer with James Cook Hospital to help with my degree, because ultimately, I wanted to enter a career within a medical setting.

“It wasn’t until I worked a few cases that I realised I wanted to work more with children, so that’s when I found Changing Futures North East and I pursued that route.”

Changing Futures North East is a Hartlepool-based charity that offer access to mediation services, mentoring to young people and children in care.

“Changing Futures is amazing and were really helpful to me during my application. Jess, the lady that interviewed me, made me feel really comfortable. She took me through my compatibility test to try to find me a match with one of the many children they help there.”

Hannah was matched with a young woman and has been her independent visitor since she started at Changing Futures last February when she was in her first year at university.

An independent visitor supports a child in foster care or similar circumstances over two years to establish a positive relationship.

Hannah said: “The most rewarding part of volunteering is influencing my young person. She’s just turned 16 so she’s looking at potential colleges and where she wants to take her life.

“It’s great because when I was young I didn’t have those influences. I mean my parents were brilliant but nobody really outlined the real issues in life to me. Things like having to pay council tax and finding a decent job. Nobody sat me down and said ‘This is what you need to do.’

“It’s always stuck with me that life isn’t always about subjects at school, there are actually things outside of education that you need to do in life.

“However I have helped her to find something she enjoys in psychology. She actually likes it and didn’t know anything like that existed. She’s also took an interest in hair and beauty. It’s brilliant to motivate her and make her realise there are so many possibilities in life.”

But it’s apparent that for Hannah, volunteering is not only about helping to teach life lessons but is also about learning for herself and for her young son.

She added: “I teach my son about the things I’ve learned whilst working for Changing Futures and from the 16-year-old girl I mentor. I let him know that some people are lucky in life and others aren’t so lucky."