Winning Hearts and Minds in Pershore

10:27am Tuesday 8th July 2008

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A PILOT study aimed at finding out the hopes and fears of young people in and around Pershore is being led by a town headteacher.

Winning Hearts and Minds in Pershore has seen hundreds of postcards distributed to people aged from five to 19.

They have each been asked to write down what they wish for most and what their greatest worry is with the results being used to build a better picture of what is important to young people in the area, what their aspirations are and how their lives could be improved.

Headteacher of Pershore High School Clive Corbett says the scheme is about "community cohesion and tackling negative attitudes to others and low expectations of themselves."

He added: "We have asked them to write down one wish and one worry and from the responses we will be able to learn a lot about what young people think about the area that they live in.

"We will also learn about what their aspirations are and how they see the world around them. Do they wish for world peace? or do they wish to become a wag (term meaning wives and girlfriends' of footballers) or perform on The X Factor?

"Do they worry about not having enough money to spend or about the world's problems with starvation? At the end of the summer we will take a look at all the responses and produce a booklet where all the wishes and worries will be mentioned."

Mr Corbett spoke about the study which has also been piloted in other parts of the country, at Pershore High School's recent presentation evening.