THIS week the Warrington Guardian speaks to Charlotte Jones, a former teen runaway, about the help she received at The Relationships Centre.

Problems started for 17-year-old Charlotte, of Little Bollington, when she was aged 11. She felt too young to take on the responsibility of protecting her younger sister from their parents’ divorce.

Everything got too much for the Lymm High School student and she started running away to get the freedom she desired.

The police suggested the teenager and her mum, Giselle Sloan, get help from The Gateway-based charity project Talk Don’t Walk on Sankey Street.

Talk Don’t Walk is a multi-agency initiative offering support, emotional guidance and family mediation to young people in the Warrington area who may be experiencing problems at home or at school.

Despite being wary about attending – because she felt nothing could help her situation – the then 15-year-old found the support very positive.

She said: “I ended up getting three A*s and five As in my GCSEs. I owe that to Talk Don’t Walk because they made me realise that my friends weren’t everything.”

Since the article was published Steve Leach, team leader, says a number of young people have contacted the project, which is the Warrington Guardian’s charity of the year.

He said: “There are at least three young people who have come forward. One has now stopped running away because her behaviour has changed dramatically.

“Communication is a major aspect of relationships – keeping things bottled up is very negative.

“If any parents are unsure they should ask the question and speak to somebody anonymously if they are fearful about coming in.

“People are afraid of being judged, parents can think they are a failure if their child is running away but that is not the case.”

He added that Charlotte has made a real turnaround and that the aim of the project is for people to feel happy and have healthy relationships.

Staff are considering setting up a peer support group for parents to meet and discuss their experiences with others who have been through similar situations.

Anyone thinking of running away or any parents who are worried about a young person running away should call 246910.