A group of youngsters have helped to make Bexley a friendlier place by urging residents to chat on public transport.

Elena Peach, aged 16, from Elwill n Beckenham is one of 15 young people encouraging people to 'ask me how I am.'

As part of their National Citizen Service (NCS), a course aimed at teaching teenagers aged 15 - 17 valuable life skills, the group, known as 'Team Ward' have organised the 'Ask Me How I Am' campaign.

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It saw shoppers, school pupils and commuters given a free wrist band to take part in a day of socialising on board buses, trains and tubes on September 20.

The group hosted a stall in Bexleyheath's Broadway Shopping Centre giving people the opportunity to mark where they made a new friend on a map.

Miss Peach said: "We're trying to break the stigma of talking to people on public transport.

"Sometimes I'll overhear a conversation that I'm really passionate about and would like to join in."

Members of the group also joined in with the socialising and reaped the benefits of making friends on public transport.

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Miss Peach added: "It went really well - we got lots of people to pledge on a map where they would have a conversation and in doing so they got a free wristband. "The team on the buses had large success having conversations with many different people most of whom supported the idea of the campaign.

"No-one was rude about it if they didn't want to join in, it's just because they were busy and didn't have the time."

Team Ward's top ice-breakers
Team Ward came up with a variety of ice-breakers to get people chatting - the most popular being 'what's your biggest fear?'

Miss Peach said: "We asked a lot of people what their biggest fear was.

"Noone said anything really strange, a lot of people said spiders so that must be a really common fear."

School and exams were also popular topics of conversation among youngsters.

The Team Ward member said: "I spoke to some girls around my age - they seemed nervous at first but got more into it.

"They were asking me for advice about GCSEs as they were a bit younger than me.

"It's nice to help people."