A FORMER Kirk Balk student has won the chance to be an apprentice at The Mirror newspaper in London, becoming the paper's 'Voice of a Generation'.
Helen Whitehouse, 18, answered an advert in The Mirror, sent in a cover letter and a CV and was shortlisted down to the final nine. She then wrote two 100 and 500-word manifestos for the paper and online.
She was the only candidate outside London to make it to the final three and it was then just left to an interview where The Mirror decided Helen was the best person for the job.
As the 'voice for first time voters' Helen will be addressing topics that affect her generation and what voting means for them. She will have her own 'manifesto' at The Mirror.
She said: "I am quite overwhelmed at the fact that I have got the position and also the opportunities that it will throw up are fantastic."
Helen, of Silkstone Close, Pilley, has already been on BBC Breakfast television this week. She was invited after writing an article relating to a study of 17 to 21-year-old first time voters.
Helen said: "Working for a national newspaper is a massive dream of mine even if it is a bit scary at the minute."
Helen attended and excelled at Kirk Balk in Hoyland and then Thomas Rotherham College.
