�I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I�ve never met. I want to go on living even after my death.�

"I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I've never met. I want to go on living even after my death."

In the cramped confines of her Amsterdam annexe, Anne Frank poured her heart out to her diary. Even she could not have imagined that she could influence teenagers in a different time and place. As the world marks her 80th birthday this month, her story is the focus of a groundbreaking project bringing together youngsters from different worlds.

Last week, pupils from Turnbull High School in Bishopbriggs went to St Mary's Kenmure, a nearby residential secure unit for young people, to present an exhibition on the life of Anne Frank which was put together by Anne Frank Scotland, a branch of the Anne Frank Trust UK.

"You've got this close geographical proximity, but in terms of a social or community divide it would perhaps seem insurmountable," said Heather Boyce, project officer for Anne Frank Scotland.

While the majority of the trust's work across the UK is with school pupils, it also has an established prison programme. However, this is the first time it has worked with young offenders.

St Mary's is a secure residential and educational unit for teenagers, aged 14 to 18, who have been referred from the Sheriff Court or the Children's Panel system because they have offended or are deemed as being at risk. It is run by Cora, a not-for-profit organisation owned by the Bishops' Conference of Scotland.

"This is the most challenging piece of work undertaken since the launch of Anne Frank Scotland," said Ms Boyce. "But I think it is precisely the environment where the work we do will be most needed, where issues of prejudice, human rights and victimisation should be discussed."

"Some will be receptive but I expect some won't. Just as with any group of young people we work with, if it reaches a few then it's worth it, and for those who don't engage, well, it doesn't mean we shouldn't have tried and shouldn't continue to try." A handful of pupils, who have already been trained as guides by Ms Boyce, show their peers round the temporary exhibition of the Holocaust and Anne Frank's life. This is then used as a springboard for discussions in subsequent workshops on contemporary issues including sectarianism and racism.

At St Mary's, two sets of pupils file into the exhibition room and after some initial awkward shuffling and the odd flourish of bravado, the mood is one of general attentiveness. Talking points include how Jews were identified within the Third Reich and the living conditions in the attic, something which the pupils at St Mary's had been studying.

The collaboration was the brainchild of Tracy McDonald, English teacher at St Mary's and a former pupil of Turnbull High School. "We obviously can't go on school trips and we don't have access to things that mainstream schools have so we rely on people's kindness and generosity of spirit to come in and share their time with us," she said.

Danny McLachlan, depute head at Turnbull, was keen to take his pupils out of their comfort zone, but admits there was some trepidation beforehand. "The people who are in here are just young people who have got themselves into difficulty. This brings them a message that other people outside here are interested in you, they want to make contact with you, they want to show you that there's something out there for you,' and hopefully that will give them some kind of hope. One of the big theories behind this is this idea of hope. As a Catholic school, that is a major part of our value system as well as that of St Mary's. For our pupils it's about meeting young people who are just like you.'"

Afterwards, there was relief that the public speaking was over and Turnbull pupils admitted that they had found their counterparts at St Mary's far more receptive than they had expected. "I thought people would be flinging things at me and not paying any attention but they were totally following it, more so than if we had done it at school," said Hannah Mackereth, 16.

"I thought the guys here responded really well," said Kevin Corr, 17. "They were a wee bit shy when they first came in but that's to be expected when you're meeting a bunch of strangers. They certainly weren't disruptive at all - I've known people who were much, much worse."

"I don't want to know the reasons why any of them are here," added Kevin MacDonald, 17. "I just want to take them as I find them and not have that influenced by knowing if they committed a crime and what it was because I might change the way I relate to them. This facility is not about punishing people, it's about getting people back on a path and rehabilitation."

Mark McGregor*, 17, a pupil at St Mary's, admits that reactions were lukewarm when the idea was mooted. "The people in my unit, including me, weren't really interested at the start. I thought it might be all the geeks coming down the road; all the nerds and all the prefects.

"When they came, I changed my mind because the guys were sound and the birds were nice to look at. We were talking to the boys about the football after it. I thought it was good, it was a learning experience."

Ms McDonald said afterwards. "For the young people from Turnbull they are becoming confident individuals to be able to come in and take on a role like that," she said. "In return, our pupils are learning from other people and becoming more confident because they get to mix with people they wouldn't normally mix with."

As part of the project, St Mary's pupils also had a talk from Henry Wuga, who arrived in the UK on the Kindertransport - a humanitarian mission to smuggle Jewish children out of occupied countries - and who described being beaten up by the SS and watching Hitler giving a speech. He also recalled how he was treated with suspicion by the authorities when he first arrived in Scotland as an asylum seeker and was sent to the High Court in Edinburgh, charged with communicating with the enemy.

"It was good to have people coming in from outside to do it because we don't really have a lot of people coming in from outside, apart from people who work here," said Mark. "You do feel a bit forgotten by the outside world." Mr Wuga, 85, originally from Nuremburg, said: "I thought it was a very positive affair. I certainly was impressed. I think I got through to the youngsters because they asked quite interesting questions afterwards." After the talk, many of the boys came up to shake his hand.

By replacing assumptions and stereotypes with informed discussion, the Anne Frank Trust hopes to challenge prejudice before it is ingrained. Anne Frank once wrote: "I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart," and this sentiment was at the centre of this collaboration.

Names have been changed.