A listening ear and a packet of Oreo biscuits helped Brentwood sixth-former Alexander Scott forge a friendship with a fellow student with autistic spectrum disorder.

Now, with Alexander’s help, the younger boy has overcome his lack of confidence enough so that he is now helping other young people.

Alexander, who has been described as 12-year-old Jack Bland’s ‘big brother at school’ and is also the real big brother of a sibling with autism, is in a competition that hails the ‘giving to others’ of young Essex people.

Now Alexander has been nominated for the Essex Young People of the Year Awards or ‘YOPEYs’.

The annual contest has £2,400 to be won by young people as a joint awards ceremony for Essex and London will be held.

Alexander, aged 18, of Hook End, Brentwood was nominated by Jack, supported by Hannah Tubby, who teaches law and French at St Martin’s School, in Hanging Hill, Hutton.

Jack, who is academically bright but is challenged by some situations at school, is in Hannah’s class.

When St Martin’s introduced a student-mentoring scheme last year – buddying up older students with younger ones for 30-minute weekly sessions – Jack’s name was put forward.

Beginning last November Alexander has each week talked over any problems Jack might have making friends and in social situations.

The scheme finished at Easter but, Hannah said, Alexander has continued to meet Jack, even though he has big demands on studying for his A Levels.

Hannah said: “Alex helps Jack make sense of school life and offers him excellent advice and they genuinely get on well. Jack is now a lot happier and sociable and more relaxed in class, there is a marked difference.

“Alex went above and beyond what we had expected of the mentoring scheme – he is a really lovely young man.”

Jack added: “Alex was there when needed so I could share my struggles, he is one of the nicest people I’ve met.

"He understands all of my hardships and has been an amazing friend.”

Jack’s mum Sarah Witney, of Hutton Poplars, Shenfield, says she has also noticed the improvement in Jack.

Jack sometimes finds being around other people difficult, he doesn’t make friends easily and gets confused with social situations.

Alex knew how to get through to him straight away, helped by a packet of Oreos when they meet up.

Alex talks through situations Jack is struggling with and taught him how to deal with situations – like noise in the lunch queue when he takes him to a table in a quiet corner.

She said: “This has given Jack much more confidence at school and to help other children.

"Jack has started helping the Year 7s move into Year 8, some of them with special needs.

"He is supporting those who are finding the school environment difficult like he did. Alex has shown Jack how to look at things differently and help others.”

Sarah described Alexander as Jack’s ‘big brother at school’.

Modest Alexander admitted he had taken Jack under his wing. 

He said: “I connected with him and got to know him really well.”

He said he volunteered to take part in the mentoring scheme and with his experience of looking after his younger brother Cameron, who also has autism and is also a student at St Martin’s, he and Jack made a great partnership.

“I could see that Jack excelled in the classroom but struggled a bit interacting with his peers.

"I would spend about 30 minutes a week with him and could see his social skills improving – and now I am thrilled to hear he is helping younger students.

“Unfortunately I have had to devote more and more time to my A-levels and of course I will be leaving St Martin’s this year and hopefully go to university.

"But Jack has my contact details and if he is in any trouble or needs me at any time I will find him and help him.”

And those biscuits? “Before we started mentoring we were given a few paragraphs about our student and Jack had written that he liked Oreos, so I took a packet along and it broke the ice.

"He had one, and I had one and he had the rest of the packet, so I would take them along each time.”

Prime Minister David Cameron said YOPEY entries show determination and “resolve to make a difference”.

YOPEY was started 10 years ago by former national newspaper journalist Tony Gearing, who said: "There are many young people in Essex doing wonderful things for others. It's just that they live in the shadow of a well-publicised anti-social minority.

“We need to give young people the respect they deserve and set up the best as positive role models for others to copy rather than focusing on the small number who appear in the press for negative reasons.”

About this entry, Tony said: “Being in school can be a scary place for some but Jack struck lucky when Alexander volunteered for the mentoring scheme. Alexander’s experience with his brother really made the difference and they have struck up a friendship which has helped Jack develop.”

Do you know somebody who deserves the title Young Person of the Year?

To nominate logon to yopey.org or write, enclosing a stamped-addressed-envelope, to YOPEY, Woodfarm Cottage, Bury Road, Stradishall, Newmarket CB8 8YN for a paper entry form. Entries close on July 31.