THE Holme Primary School, in Headley, welcomed speaker Richard Hunt, who has a prosthetic leg, as part of its disability awareness week.

Mr Hunt works with Project Youth Force, which Portsmouth’s Queen Alexandra Hospital has been running in schools for the past 11 months.

Mr Hunt visits schools in the South East, raising awareness of disability. The children also learn about their own abilities and qualities, exploring concepts such as determination, setting goals and not giving up on them, and how to be more resilient through life.

On his first visit last Tuesday, Mr Hunt shared his life story with the children: his hopes and dreams as a teenager; losing his leg from a post-operative infection, and setting himself mental and physical goals to raise money for charity.

He returned to school for a second day, running workshops at which the children faced challenges, forcing them to dig deep and be resilient.

“Richard’s visit has been inspirational for staff and children, deepening our understanding of disability and of ourselves,” headteacher Ruth Worswick said. “We have spent the rest of the week reading stories about disability, both fictional and real life; have met disabled siblings of our children and have tried out different activities as if we were disabled. Next term we will be running a Paralympic sports competition too.”