TEENAGERS who are turning their lives around with the help of a royal charity have been highly commended for a book they produced about local people of importance.

Fourteen youngsters at Parkside Sports College in Willington produced the book called Yesterday’s People, Tomorrow’s Future, through the Prince’s Trust xl programme.

The students were named runners up for the Community Impact Award at The Prince’s Trust and Samsung Celebrate Success Awards held at The Sage in Newcastle with judges saying they were highly impressed by the book.

The xl programme aims to help young people who are at risk of exclusion from school.

Most of the students were underachieving due to personal challenges in their lives including learning difficulties, parental abandonment and behavioral issues.

They discovered there were many heroes in their community that people knew nothing about.

After gathering information from the library and local residents, the young people interviewed and photographed their subjects, including authors, footballers and musicians, for inclusion in their book.

Peter Brown, 16, said: “Making the book was a really great experience and so rewarding.”