YOUNGSTERS have been walking in the shoes of asylum seekers in an effort to understand the hardships they face.

Five 14-year-olds from Middlesbrough schools visited the North of England Refugee Service, in the town's Borough Road, to take part in a workshop. They listened to a talk by Peter Widlinski, a team leader with the service, and played a game in which they imagined they had to flee their homes.

Mr Widlinski said the visit provided a valuable insight into asylum seekers' lives.

"The purpose of the visit was for me to explain to the young people the work that we do and why people have to flee their country of origin," he said. "I wanted to demonstrate the sort of journeys they have to undertake and the dangers they face. In the game, the children had five minutes to pack and they had to choose 15 items to take with them."

He said the children really enjoyed it and they ended by having Turkish coffee