EastEnders legend Jake Wood is backing an anti-bullying campaign after being picked on as a kid for his ginger hair.
The 50-year-old actor said he was able to stand up to his bullies – but many victims feel too scared.
Speaking ahead of Anti-Bullying Week, Jake – who played womaniser Max Branning in the BBC soap – said: “Anything that marks you out as different when you are growing up can lead to some sort of form of bullying.
“I was ginger and so there was name-calling and being picked on. Any nicknames you can think of for someone with red hair, I was given them.
“I would stand up to it and it hasn’t had an impact on me. But it depends on your character. Not everybody is in the same position. If you’re unlucky it can be very bad.”
Jake, whose children Amber, 17, and Buster, 15, have inherited their dad’s hair colour, added: “There’s a fine line between teasing and banter and bullying and it’s important that kids know where that line is.”
Eight in 10 children have been targeted by bullies, according to a new survey, with half saying it was over their appearance. Now anti-bullying charity The Diana Award has teamed up with Nationwide Building Society to launch a pen pal scheme to spread kindness and respect in schools.
More than 120,000 kids from 300 schools will write letters filled with positive messages to send to other children as part of the charity’s Positive Post Box campaign.
Jake, who left EastEnders last year after 15 years and reached the semi-final of Strictly Come Dancing in 2014, said: “It’s a wonderful idea. I had a pen pal from Greece as a kid. That was great fun. I went on holiday there and met this other kid.
“We swapped addresses and wrote on and off for a good few years. Back in the day that was the way you stayed in touch. It was a joyful thing to get a letter through the post and write one. That kind of communication has died out now.”
The Diana Award and Nationwide also aim to train 10,000 anti-bullying young ambassadors in 660 primary schools in the next three years.
