AFTER sailing through her GCSEs in the morning, Courtney Hughes went out to spread the love.

The 16-year-old Didcot Girls’ School pupil went on to the streets of the town with nine friends to offer hugs to help the homeless.

Offering embraces in exchange for cash, they raised £409 for Oxford homelessness charity Crisis.

Courtney, who lives in the town, said: “It went really well, I didn’t think we would raise that much. It was mainly old people who liked the idea, the hugs made them smile.”

Courtney still has more love to give – her GCSE results have won her a place at Abingdon and Witney College to study childcare. Her dream job is caring for disabled children.

The hugs were part of the youngsters’ work for the National Citizen Service, which they have been doing in the past two weeks.

The Government initiative teaches 15 to 18-year-olds life skills.

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone's contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.


Our top stories