Singers, footballers, actresses and dancers are backing a charity’s anti-bullying campaign as millions of children go back to school this week.

Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Banjo, and Emmerdale’s Gemma Oaten are among those backing The Diana Award’s #Back2School campaign, which encourages people to share their advice for the first day back at school after the summer break.

The charity, set up after Princess Diana’s death, hope the drive will offer help and advice to young people who are worried about returning to school because of bullying.

The Diana Award encourage people to share their #Back2School advice and photos along with the charity's advice centre on social media.

As part of the campaign, former Manchester United and England player Rio Ferdinand shared his experiences of bullying at school and at football clubs growing up.

He said: “I was training at a football club and one of the guys said a couple of racist words to me while we were playing.

“The coach at the time, fortunately heard what was said, and he reprimanded the young boy and he was told to leave the club for a few weeks until he had learned his lesson.

“I was fortunate that I was around a coach who was very responsive.”

Ferdinand also shared his advice for the millions of young people going back to school this week.

“Go in with your chest out and your head high,” he said.

“Make people know you’ve got the confidence to walk in that classroom amongst your peers and know that you are all equal.”

The Diana Award also trains students to offer support to their peers as anti-bullying ambassadors.

A recent evaluation showed that 69 per cent of young people believe that the ambassadors have decreased the amount of bullying taking place in their schools.

And in a survey of 9,181 young people from across the UK, the Diana Award found that 58 per cent had been bullied Almost two-thirds of people who were bullied at school face a lasting impact on their confidence and self-esteem, according to The Diana Award.

Alex Holmes, head of the Diana Award Anti-Bullying Campaign, said: "School should be safe and free from bullying. We're urging everyone to get behind our campaign by helping us to train Anti-Bullying Ambassadors in schools."

For more information, and for videos of celebrities offering their #Back2School advice, visit http://back2school.antibullyingpro.com/