A TEENAGE carer who stopped attending school due to the pressures on her has gone on to achieve a diploma thanks to a care farm.

Chantelle Revell, 16, is the main carer for her father, who has serious long term health issues.

She dropped out of school after her home responsibilities began to affect her ability to cope with the pressures of school.

However, over the past two years a care farm at Longlands has given her the support and care she needed to succeed.

Chantelle attended Longlands -a working farm where teenagers who are excluded, experience barriers to learning or have mental health issues can learn new skills and gain qualifications.

She has now achieved all 24 modules of her Level 1 Diploma in Horse Care and Riding and is pursuing further study towards achieving her aim of working at a racing stable, and perhaps one day teaching young people herself.

Marcus Eden, deputy headteacher, Newbridge School, Worcester said: “This opportunity for Chantelle has been fabulous. She struggled with the day to day activities at school, had a very low attendance and then stopped coming at all. The change in Chantelle at Longlands was immediate: she found her smile again. This is where she blossomed and grew. I couldn’t have been prouder of her achievements and I’m sure she will go on and become a fantastic adult and achieve things that she may never have thought possible.”

Julia Evans, the CEO of Longlands said: “Chantelle is a very special young woman who against all the odds has quietly got on with her work and studies, caring for our ponies, improving her riding, and volunteering with the Riding for the Disabled Group. We are all enormously proud of her achievements.”

Chantelle is just one among many students who have benefitted from Longlands over the last ten years. Aston Perkins, her tutor at Longlands, was herself a student at Newbridge and Longlands after being permanently excluded from mainstream school. She went on to complete a course in Animal Management at Pershore College and she is now a full time member of staff at Longlands and is studying for an Open University degree in Psychology.

Youngsters at Longlands are supported and mentored by a qualified and experienced team who help them learn new skills and gain qualifications, as well as boost self confidence and esteem.