Mark Anderson, 21, was given the Gold Award by Student Volunteering England for his work mentoring pupils at Hellesdon High School. He was the first student mentor at the school.

Mark spent sixth months mentoring 15 pupils in need of extra help, developing more than 20 learning tools for young people with different learning styles and needs. With his help, the pupils gained a great deal of confidence, resulting in improved performance in their school work.

“One of the most enjoyable things from my mentoring experience was helping young people to recognise skills they didn’t even think they had,” said Mark.

“I was able to empower them to think about their own interests and activities which has led them to be more confident and increased their employability. Seeing a young person recognise their true potential for the first time is the greatest gift of all.”

Mark, who recently accepted a job at Connexions Norfolk, now hopes UEA will receive a community grant so that his learning programme can be used by future volunteer mentors.

Mark Anderson was born in Newcastle but moved to Norwich with his family ten years ago. He studied at Taverham High School and Wensum Sixth Form before studying English Literature and Philosophy at UEA.

He first became interested in mentoring at the age of 15 when he helped dyslexic school friends improve their reading and writing.