STUDENTS at Frensham Heights School are set to launch an extra-curricular club with a difference – one which offers kindness and compassion to those in need in the local community.

Their move follows a visit to the school in Surrey by Joshua Coombes, the London hairdresser who has won national and international acclaim for his #DoSomethingForNothing movement.

The digital campaign, which encourages the public to carry out small acts of kindness and goodwill, started in 2015 when he began giving free haircuts to the homeless and listening to their stories.

Since then the social movement has reached more than 100 million people across the world and inspired thousands to support the communities they live in.

Now, after hearing Joshua speak at their school, Frensham Heights students are hoping to follow his example and offer help, through a new club, to local community groups.

While charity and giving tends to be at the forefront of people’s minds during the Christmas season, the students want their club to try to offer support throughout the year.

Assistant headteacher, Andy Spink, said: “The students were very moved by what Joshua had to say. This club will be very much driven by them.

“The ideas so far include going to visit the elderly, helping with food banks and assisting the homeless in some way.”

The club is still in its infancy, but the school would love to hear from any community group in the Farnham area which would appreciate support from the youngsters.

Headteacher Rick Clarke said: “At the heart of our school’s progressive ethos is how education should be about doing things for the greater good – about giving back to the community.

“When Joshua Coombes visited, our students had the enormous privilege of hearing from someone who has truly made a difference in the world.

“His universal messages of compassion, hope and human connection struck a chord with them, and I know he has inspired our students to make a difference to the world around them.”

Joshua, a winner of the Prime Minister’s Point of Light award for outstanding individual volunteers in 2017, talked to students about how he had plucked up the courage to talk to homeless people.

“I explained to them that what I have been doing is not part of some huge foundation, that what I am doing is as much theirs as mine,” said Joshua.

“I told them that whatever they decide to do with their life, whatever their goals are, feeling empathy for the person who sits beside you is as important as any of that.”

Most people take for granted the support network they have around them, he said, but some people are not so lucky. They literally have nowhere to go if they lose everything.

“Time spent with people can mean so much, it is so important,” he added. “It helps to restore hope and dignity.”

If your community group feels it might benefit from help from students at Frensham Heights, send an email to [email protected]