I'm a 16-year-old at school in Blackpool, but I'm already Managing Director of my own company

Cheroken Bentley is a 16-year-old with a remarkable ambition.

The entrepreneurial A-level student at St Mary’s Catholic Academy in Blackpool is looking to build a business with the aim of supporting young people's mental health across the country.

While many young people her age are concentrating on school, friendships and deciding what they want to do in the future, Cheroken is already managing director and co-founder with her dad David of Bentley Entertainment Group.

Cheroken is helping to build the family-led business based across Lancashire and Kendal in Cumbria alongside David, her twin sister Cheyenne, younger brother Cielo and other members of the family.

But what makes Cheroken's story particularly special is not simply her age or her position within the company - it is her determination to use the business to help others, particularly young people struggling with mental health, anxiety, bullying, loneliness and pressures of modern life.

She has a vision to create a network of welcoming mental health and wellbeing cafés under the banner HEAL Collective, where young people can feel safe, supported, understood and valued.

The first steps towards making that vision a reality have been taken, with premises acquired and for the first HEAL micro cafe in Kendal town centre.

The aim is for a network of other such cafes to follow, in Blackpool, where the girls were brought up, and other locations across the country and even overseas.

David is immensely proud of the family’s enterprise - and all the more so as Cheroken and Cheyenne faced a battle from birth as they were born prematurely at just 29 weeks.

“What should have been a joyful beginning became an incredibly frightening and uncertain time,” said David.

“Shortly after birth, Cheyenne was rushed to St Mary's Hospital in Manchester for specialist medical treatment because of a serious congenital condition known as TOF/OA, affecting the oesophagus and windpipe.

“She went on to undergo four major surgical operations and as parents, we faced the terrifying reality of having two tiny premature babies, one requiring specialist treatment away from her twin sister.

“At that time, we could never have imagined that nearly 17 years later, those same two little girls would be helping to build a family business with such ambitious plans for the future.

“While Cheroken is the managing director and co-founder of our business, Cheyenne is social media and marketing director and with their younger brother, Cielo, our technical director, they are helping shape an organisation we hope will positively influence many lives.

“For me, as their father, that transformation is something I find difficult to put into words.

“One of the most beautiful aspects of Cheroken's journey involves an exceptional teacher at St Mary's, Miss Oldfield, whose belief in Cheroken's potential, her guidance and the encouragement she has provided have helped nurture the confidence and ambition we see in my daughter today.

“With HEAL Collective, Cheroken’s vision is to create places where young people can walk through the door without fear of being judged.

“Somewhere they can sit down, have a drink, meet others, talk about what is troubling them, participate in activities and discover that support is available.

“She wants to create a positive alternative to isolation and the feeling that nobody understands.

“The plans include youth wellbeing workshops, mental health education, confidence-building activities, community events, supportive conversations and access to appropriate professional services.

“The longer-term plans include developing a larger HEAL Café, followed by additional community cafés in locations including Liverpool, Windermere, London and eventually even New York.

“These are ambitious future goals, but they demonstrate just how far Cheroken is thinking ahead.

“At 16 years old, she is not simply asking what career she might pursue, she is asking how she can build something that could help other young people for years to come, and that, to me, is something worth celebrating.”