ON September 24, Lady Mary Holborow will be at Budehaven School to open the new Integrated Health Centre at the School.

This is one of only three such centres in the country, and the capital has been provided by the Duchy Health Trust, one of Prince Charles's Duchy Charities. They have provided £250,000 to fund the building, and it will be a superb addition to the school.

One of the key elements of the Duchy Health Charity's initiative is that there should be maximum student involvement at every stage in the development and in its subsequent management.

Students, for example, have been entirely responsible for the furnishings and for finding the money to furnish the centre which is designed to cater for all of the health and well being needs of youngsters passing through the sometimes difficult years of adolescence.

It is the students who have determined the services which will be provided in an area where, because of it's scattered rural nature which the school serves, it is often not easy for young people to access doctors' surgeries at times which are readily accessible to them.

The model for the centres comes from New Zealand where they have been running for around ten years with great success and are in partnership with the Primary Care Trust who have helped the school with the staffing.