INSPIRATIONAL teenage Jessie Pitsillides’ has set up a free mentoring service for underprivileged children.

The initiative, called Mentor JR, started off with Jessie, 17, and her peers going into primary schools to tutor children but following the lockdown has now evolved into a successful online tool.

Jessie said: “I set up mentor Jr at the start of the academic year, I am aware of my educational privilege and I wanted to give back to level the playing field.

“It was a face to face service and we went into primary schools but with the onset of Covid we took it online.

“It has been going really well and we have been able to help more children.”

The service is completely free to access and parents simply have to registered on the website to access help.

Jessie explained: “It is all free, all our tutors are volunteers, parents go online and can book a free session – they can have a session every day if they want.

“We have 70 tutors today, I think so many secondary school students have a heightened sense of responsibility and they want to give back.”

Jessie, whose mum is the UK’s leading psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos, is now hoping to get a grant to help buy iPads and other learning tools for children whose parents cannot afford them.

She explained: “We are looking into the grants now as it is so important to allow these children to have access to technology – we need to level the playing field.

“I believe in the initiative and I think it has the scope to really grow.”

To find out more information visit mentorjr.com.

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