A COLOURFUL former pupil of South Craven School returned to give an inspirational talk to current staff.

Emily Yates was known for her bright pink hair and “can-do” attitude during her years at the Cross Hills school.

Despite a disability she entered into anything and everything that was going on before leaving in 2010.

This month, at the age of 23, Emily returned in a wheelchair to talk to staff about her recent activities and ask for their help.

She wanted to increase disability awareness among current students and offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to a disabled student.

South Craven School spokesman Pauline Kennedy said Emily’s visit to the school was warmly welcomed.

She said: “Emily’s disability has never held her back from doing anything.

“She is a positive advocate for increased awareness of disability in others, and in 23 years has achieved a huge amount.”

While at school, Emily was offered a place on the JoLT project, travelling to the Sinai with other disabled students to climb sand dunes and swim, in a cage, with sharks.

She went on to complete a degree in English Literature and visit Australia where she rode a camel across the desert.

Emily become a prominent “games maker” during the London Paralympics and so inspired co-ordinator Lord Sebastian Coe that she was mentioned in his speech at the closing ceremony.

Emily’s experience at the London Paralympics encouraged her to apply to become involved in the 2016 Games at Rio and she is now a prominent member of the MetroRio project, which is looking at improving user-friendliness for people with disabilities.

Mrs Kennedy said: “As a wheelchair user herself Emily is well aware of the difficulties of travelling around and is using her experience to improve things there.”

During her visit to Craven, Emily asked whether the school could suggest a current student who might be interested in applying for a place on JoLT.

She also spoke to staff about another project, Enhance, which aims to increase able-bodied people’s understanding of what it is like to be disabled and to show them how best to help.

She demonstrated by asking staff to try to guide a blindfolded person through a door, without it crashing into them.