A teenager with a troubled past is building her life and helping others like her – thanks to raffle prize money from the Croydon Guardian’s Croydon Champions awards.

We donated the proceeds to Skye Alexandra House (SAH), a charity set up by two women to give teenage girls a better chance at life.

And they decided to give the money to Charlie Read, an 18-year-old who has been part of the programme since last summer with the Inspiring Butterflies workshops.

She has designed t-shirts which will be available online at the charity’s website www.skyealexandrahouse.com from February.

Half of the profits will go to SAH and half will go to Miss Read so she can use the money to set up her own design business.

The 18-year-old said: “It feels good as I feel like I have done something positive.

“I have liked art for quite awhile and after starting the Inspiring Butterflies programme I got back into art again.

“I’m definitely thinking about doing T-shirt design as a career now because of this.”

SAH co-founder Sherica Spence said: “We were looking at ways to come up with funds and Charlie suggested t-shirts.

“When we took her to get the t-shirts she found the whole experience really exciting and when she saw the final prints she had a tear in her eye.

“It gives her a sense of achievement to know that something she has created has come to life.”

The t-shirts will cost £15 and be available from the SAH website skyealexandrahouse.com from February.

After posting on the SAH Facebook page about the £233 raffle money donation, Ms Spence said a woman helped out with some more cash.

She added: “It was all because of the raffle money and another donor through Facebook.”