A TEENAGER has beaten the bullies to be nominated for a royal prize in recognition of his school achievements.

Andrew James of Churchbury Road, Eltham, is shortlisted for a prize at the annual Prince's Trust Celebrate Success ceremony to be held in Leicester Square on March 1.

Following the death of his mother, the 17-year-old grew up caring for his older sister Joanne who was left unable to talk or hear after contracting meningitis.

Andrew’s elderly father Colin, who suffers from the debilitating effects of arthritis, was also in need of his son’s help, leaving the youngster with a lot of responsibilities.

In addition to the pressures he faced at home, Andrew started secondary school as a painfully shy student.

He lacked social skills, had very low self esteem and was an easy target for bullies.

But he joined Abbeywood School's Prince’s Trust XI club, designed to support young people at risk of truanting, and before long he had overcome his fear of speaking up and began to make new friends - even finding time to raise money for Comic Relief.

Andrew is now brimming with confidence and achieved much better GCSEs than predicted.

After leaving school, he began working as a full-time road sweeper for Greenwich Council and has since decided he wants to go back to college to study IT.

He said: “When my teacher told me I was up for this big award, I was shocked and amazed.

"I had no confidence before and I was so shy that I couldn’t even talk to people who I didn’t know.

"Now I’m a million miles away from that - I have friends, I have a job, I have GCSEs and I feel like I’ve achieved something.

"My dad is so proud of me - he’s been telling anyone who will listen about the ceremony next month.”

Andrew, who was chosen from 40,000 people helped by the youth charity, has been nominated for the Educational Achiever of the Year award.

This year in London, the Prince's Trust aims to support more than 3,500 young people who are long-term unemployed, in or leaving care, have struggled at school, or have been in trouble with the law.

For more information, visit princes-trust.org.uk