FACED with the death of her mother and her father’s drink problem, Emma Stott could have easily given up on life.

But despite her adversity, the 16-year-old battled on and has now been named Achiever of the Year by the Huddersfield branch of the youth charity Rathbone.

And what’s more, she has just been accepted on to a Health and Social Care course at Kirklees College.

Emma told the Examiner: “I’m really proud. After all the things that I’ve been through: my dad drinking and us constantly having to move around the country.

“I’ve had a lot to do with Social Services so I wanted to become a social worker and help children who are in a similar position to me.”

Emma, originally from Blackpool, moved to Huddersfield to be near family members, and is currently living in a hostel run by Kirklees Council’s Women Into Single Housing project.

Instead of going to a regular school, Emma attended Rathbone on Highfields Road, a charity which specialises in helping struggling 14 – 16-year-olds gain qualifications.

Emma, whose mum died when she was just six, said: “My dad would meet these girlfriends on the internet and we’d go and live with them so we were always moving around.

“His drinking just got worse after mum died and he was finding it harder and harder to cope with me, my brother and my sister.

“It was really hard to settle into the new schools and make friends and I ended up missing out on a lot of work and had to catch up.

“I have only been at Rathbone for six months but have made lots of friends here.

“For people like me, mainstream high school doesn’t work. Rathbone is much more like a family and the tutors talk to you like you are an adult and it’s more one-to-one teaching.’’

Emma was the only one in her class to pass her Level 2 qualification in literacy and numeracy and staff noticed the hard work and effort she was putting in to turn her life around.

Rathbone centre manager Rechelle Boothroyd said: “Emma was the best of a very good bunch and her application to studying, plus the experiences she has gone through, will make her a brilliant mentor to other young people.

“Many of the youngsters we work with would have been written off by society and yet within them there is a strong work ethic and a will to improve themselves and their community.”

Rathbone is a UK-wide voluntary youth sector organisation founded by Liverpool philanthropist Elfrida Rathbone, who died in 1940. Her inspirational work led to the formation of the Rathbone Society in 1969. Log onto www.rathboneuk.org