A STUDENT from a Richmond secondary school has used her creative talents to support teenagers with cancer.

Annia Henderson, a Year 9 student at St Francis Xavier School, took inspiration from social media to learn a new skill, develop contacts and raise money to support others.

She said: “I saw the way someone had created an image and, by using Adobe Illustrator and tried doing it myself for my family and friends."

After being inundated with requests, Annia, with the support of her mum, looked at how demand could help others in need. “We decided to contact people and see if they were willing to donate money for a picture. Some did and I made images for them, others just donated money because it was a good cause.”

Annia found the experience very rewarding and benefited from using her love of art, a subject she is planning to take for GCSE. Her goal is to be a makeup artist and she takes inspiration from social media influencers. This interest led to helping others, living out the school ethos. The £600 she raised was split between Herriot Hospice and Dreamflight.

With the help of Harriet Trewhitt, Annia contacted the family of Eilidh Hallett, a much-loved and missed student from SFX who lost her battle with cancer in 2019. The money she received from Annia’s fundraising went to Children's Cancer Services and Clic Sargent who supported Eilidh’s family. Dr Vicky Hallett, Eilidh’s mum, has been busy during these Covid-19 times but hopes to create a foundation in Eilidh’s name to raise awareness and much-needed support for teenagers with brain tumours – something the school hopes to support in the future.