Standing shoulder to shoulder

The Willows, a project run by NCH, the children's charity, is making a big difference to the lives of youngsters facing more than the usual trials and tribulations of growing-up. Tracey O'Sullivan meets a pair of teenagers with a special bond.

Being a teenager is never easy. Whether it's pressure at school or finding your feet on the countdown to being a young adult, those adolescent years can be tough going - even when life has dealt you a pretty good hand.

But when it decides to put a few obstacles in your direction, suddenly being a teenager becomes very difficult indeed. And more than most you depend on your friends to see you through.

Ben Corran-Williams and Craig Roberts are two such friends. Good friends. In fact the very best: competitive, fun-loving and massive football fans (when they are not on the PlayStation, that is). But they perhaps have more reason than most to depend on each other.

They have had to navigate a slightly more tricky path while growing up.

Ben has scoliosis, curvature of the spine, and Craig has Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, conditions which have created their own difficulties - not the least of which is cruel and senseless bullying at the hands of other young people in the community.

They both regularly stay at the NCH Willows project in Reabrook Avenue, Shrewsbury. It helps to give them and their families a break, but it has also allowed these two to form an extremely strong bond.

One moment they are teasing each other mercilessly and then, like all teenagers, laughing about it.

They try and organise each other with the best of intentions and have a instinctive understanding of each other's needs - an understanding which in no small measure has been nurtured at the Willows.

A bright and busy building, it houses children aged five to 18 with severe learning or multiple disabilities, mostly on a temporary or respite basis, and sometimes in emergency situations when it offers more permanent crisis care.

Its team, dressed casually, creates a buzz which has everything to do with the wonder of childhood in a temporary but welcoming home, rather than a place of work. They too seem to have developed a keen understanding of their charges' needs.

Ben has to take his time to make himself heard but when he wants to get his point across or crack a joke he certainly does it well. He even shows off his keen sense of humour when asked what other activities he likes or where he likes to go on days out.

"They never take me anywhere," he says with a teasing smile flashed in deputy manager Faye Henderson's direction for my benefit.

Taking my questions more seriously, he explains how making friends has been one of the positive outcomes of his time at the Willows. That and the ever-popular PlayStation which is immediately listed as his second-favourite thing.

In fact while chatting to Ben, buddy Craig has slipped away to improve his score on a certain racing game, a move which is not lost on Ben when he returns and he looks more determined than ever as he tells me it's now his turn and he isn't going to miss it.

Faye has to fill me in on the limits they have had to put in place to save these two from honing their skills 24/7 in various virtual worlds.

"They get a certain amount of time in the morning and the afternoon," she explains as the afternoon slot approaches, which is no different to most households across the country trying to keep computer whizz-kids grounded.

"It is something they love to do together because they do have a friendly but fierce rivalry. We do try to encourage them to enjoy all their leisure interests; they have been to see Shrewsbury Town Football Club play and they love being out in the grounds on the scooters. But give Ben the chance and he wouldn't go too far from the PlayStation."

The Willows team arranges various activities for their young charges together with days out and trips. It is a supportive environment which allows these children to be themselves and encourages their strengths and talents.

But most poignant of all it gives many young people like Craig and Ben a sense of self-confidence. And watching them pose happily for our photographer there is every sense they have that confidence in abundance.

Craig admits he has faced bullies in the past who had called him hurtful names.

"It's their problem," he says with an air of authority that leaves no doubt that he believes just that. And that sense of self-worth now extends to ambitions with Craig busy planning for a career in banking and keen to exhibit his art in a gallery he has visited in Wolverhampton.

But first that games console calls with the challenge laid down to beat his mate in the latest round of the PlayStation wars.