'I used to avoid challenges, now I think that I'll have a go'

After being seriously bullied at school, Oli Watts, 18, set up www.pupiline.net, a help service for 11- to 17-year-olds facing problems with anything from bullying to sex, drugs, self-harming and relationships.

In the three years since its inception, the service has attracted around 1,000 visitors a day from around the world and has also become the springboard for a more general platform in which young people at secondary school can discuss – in their own language – the many issues that matter to them. Although help and guidance tends to be given by other young people, usually via message-boards, outside professional advice is sought for particular problem areas.

The website, which has a slight bias towards girls and young women, is firmly non-party political and does not use any counsellors. Pupiline has recently launched Active Learning Resources, a collection of learning packs, based on the feedback to the website, which are designed for use by teachers. So far, 25 schools have bought the packs for use in the National Curriculum's new Citizenship component.

"When I searched the Web looking for something that would connect with my feelings about being bullied, all I found were dry academic explanations," says Watts. "My decision to write my story and publish it on the internet turned out to be the first step towards creating a website that gives young people a voice on today's issues."

Watts believes that "although traditional subjects such as English, maths and science are incredibly important, young people need to explore all the social issues in their lives as well as academic subjects.

"Rather than have citizenship, like any other subject, imposed on you at school, we want to promote a more active kind of participation which closely follows how secondary school students actually experience life.

"We believe that if young people are allowed to have a major input in how citizenship is taught – and it includes things such as tolerance towards other people, life skills and sex education – it has the potential to become the most important subject in the whole curriculum."

Watts himself is currently studying for three A2 levels in English language, ICT and sociology and says he will go to university "in a couple of years".

"I'm definitely socially minded, but I don't have any career plans as such. I want to see how pupiline develops before I make any firm decisions about my future."

Targeted at 16-year-old school leavers who have no specific plans for their future, "uproject" is a summer-long programme of adventure activities and skills development designed to help make youngsters make positive choices about their next steps.

Funded by the New Opportunities Fund, with Lottery money guaranteed until 2004, uproject, which was rolled out nationally last May, provided a programme of music, drama, sports and outdoor activities for more than 16,000 young people last summer.

Interwoven with practical skills such as IT, first aid and financial literacy, the scheme, which is being sponsored by Barclays as part of their community programme, aims to build self-esteem among the participants and to offer educational, careers and training guidance for youngsters who are undecided about what to do next. As part of their sponsorship, Barclays have funded the development of www. uproject.org.uk, a lively website which brings together the combined experience and stories of many of the people who have taken part.

One of them, 17-year-old Kim from Lancashire, says: "The first time I heard about uproject was at school. I went to a meeting about it, but I was nervous. We met a few times before our residential trip, which helped me relax. When we did go away, I was surprised at the support people gave each other – it helped me do things I felt scared about, like acting in a video, and facing my fear of heights.

"Uproject has helped me realise I'm a lot stronger mentally and physically than I thought I was. I used to turn away when I was presented with a challenge, but now I think, 'I'll have a go'."

Another youngster, Phil, 20, from Staffordshire, says: "Doing uproject made me realise I want to get out there and do something with my life."

An evaluation of the 2001 pilot project indicated that 41 per cent of the young people involved found that it had a major impact on them or entirely altered their initial plans. Eighty-five per cent said the programme made them more determined to achieve their ambitions. Between 2002 and 2004, as many as 60,000 young people will be helped by the scheme, which is being run through the Department of Education and Skills Connexions partnership, a support service for 13- to 19-year-olds.

Uproject has attracted £34m worth of National Lottery money, together with the Barclays sponsorship.