A WORLD champion boxer joined students in Kingsteignton to coach a session aimed at helping mental health.

Rachael Mackenzie, former World Number One Thai boxer and British Boxing Champion, ran a day of training at Teign School.

The initiative was aimed at giving students the tools and techniques needed to support their peers with mental health challenges.

Twenty students took part in the training day organise as part of the Youth Sport Trust’s Active in Mind initiative.

The training, which combined physical games and strategies, aimed to show the student ambassadors how to use sport and physical activity as a means to engage and support other young people facing mental health difficulties.

Through hands-on activities, students learned how to connect with others and provide helpful, healthy ways to manage mental health.

The day concluded with the ambassadors preparing to create and lead their own mental health support programmes in their respective schools.

Working closely with a lead member of staff, the students will have the responsibility of organising and managing these initiatives.

The Active in Mind project, which has been successfully running at Teign School for several years, continues to make a positive impact on young people’s mental health.

The Youth Sport Trust’s Active in Mind initiative aims to support young people’s mental health by using sport and physical exercise as tools to engage and uplift.

By training young ambassadors, the project empowers students to take an active role in supporting their peers through mental health challenges.

Lucie Wagner, head of school at Teign School said: ‘This training day has been a powerful experience for all involved.

‘Our students are already leaders in their communities, and now they are equipped with the skills to make a real difference to the mental wellbeing of their peers.

‘I am so proud of their enthusiasm and dedication to supporting one another.’