Cheryl Fernandez-Versini "growing up wasn't easy"

On GCSE Results Day Cheryl has written a blog post about growing up and the importance of a good role model.

Published 20th Aug 2015

Cheryl Fernandez-Versini has written a post as part of Huffington Post's 'Results Day' blog in which she tells of her tough childhood.

"I grew up in a tough area in Newcastle. I saw drug and alcohol abuse, crime and poverty," she says, going on to say how it was easy to see how many of the people she knew at school didn't do well and ended up mixing with the wrong crowd.

Today (GCSE results day) is a pivotal day for many teenagers around the country and while many will be celebrating their grades, others will be finding it harder to get that place at college or follow the career path they wanted.

Cheryl said she was lucky because she had a good role model but "growing up wasn't easy" as she and her siblings often had to go without.

She is very grateful to her parents who made sacrifices so that she could go to dance lessons, which ultimately paid off.

This year Cheryl has launched Cheryl's Trust and partnered with The Prince's Trust committing to raising £2 million. The aim is to help the most vulnerable young people who don't have any qualifications, suffer from mental health issues or are unemployed.

More information on Cheryl's Trust can be found here: cherylofficial.com