A WORLD BMX champion will coach four Bromsgrove students after they were chosen to be part of a 'life-changing' mentoring scheme.

North Bromsgrove High School pupils Adam Vine, Kyle Kendall, Alfie White and Charlie Hargreaves were selected for the AQA Unlocking Potential programme.

As part of the scheme - run by exam board and education charity AQA and the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust - the four will be mentored by four-time BMX world champion Kelvin Batey.

Batey, who turned professional at 16, was British number one for eight years consecutively, between 2003 and 2010.

North Bromsgrove is one of 20 schools selected to take part in this year’s programme which provides mentoring for young people aged 11 to 19 who may have faced personal challenges or disadvantages. Students are paired with specially trained mentors who have competed at world-class sporting events - including the Olympics and Paralympics - and have overcome their own significant personal challenges. Batey will provide personal mentoring for the students over eight months to help unlock hidden attitudes and skills, and help the students to deliver a social action project towards the end of the programme.

Katy Travers, Year 11 pastoral support and intervention co-ordinator at North Bromsgrove High School said: “We are immensely proud of the students who have been chosen to work alongside Kelvin.

"This is such a fantastic opportunity to help increase their confidence and raise their aspirations about the future.

"The social action project gives the students a chance to make a positive contribution to the local community.”

Dame Kelly Holmes, double gold Olympian and founder of Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, said: “AQA Unlocking Potential is not aimed at developing the potential of future sports stars, but targets young people who need an inspirational helping hand.

"The athlete mentors will work with these young people to develop skills and knowledge to increase attainment as well as improve their confidence, resilience and self-esteem.

“To see more young people transformed through this life changing programme is fantastic and I’m really proud that this programme, which is now in its ninth year, is still changing young people’s lives.”