TWO lucky Forest students had the chance of a lifetime when they were invited backstage to meet former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at the Cheltenham Literature Festival.

Dene Magna School’s Hayley Shinners and Newent Community School head girl Amelia Threadgill spent several minutes with the former First Lady, before watching her give a talk with several of their schoolmates.

The duo were among nine county sixth formers and eight University of Gloucestershire journalism students selected to meet Mrs Clinton backstage, who told them: “We need good journalists to report the truth.”

Hayley, who attended the Sunday, October 15, event with Year 11 schoolmates Louisa Watson and Beth Cox and the Mitcheldean school’s head teacher Stephen Brady, said: “I originally didn’t know too much about American politics, but one of the great things about this experience is that I’ve been able to do more research and it made me realise what an honour this day would be.

“When we went backstage to meet Hillary, I was both incredibly nervous and excited to see her, but she was very lovely and said she was happy to see so many girls here.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the whole day and I just can’t believe we were given such an amazing opportunity.”

Newent head girl Amelia, who attended the talk with head boy Dafi Griffiths, and their deputies Sam Isbell and Elisha Fenton, said the meeting with Hillary was “quite surreal.”

During the talk, Dafi asked her the question: “Do you share Barack Obama’s views on tightening gun control in the USA?”

In response, Mrs Clinton spoke of the vast number of deaths due to gun violence in the US and how she totally backed the former president.

Dafi said: “This clear compassion and enthusiasm for tighter gun control spread through the audience with people showing their clear support.”

Mrs Clinton’s desire to achieve equality for women, due to her own personal struggle, was clear, while she also shot down many of the myths that came out of the 2016 presidential election, he added.

Although tickets sold out in less than an hour, event sponsors, the University of Gloucestershire, were able to invite some 40 students to hear the talk.

Her talk was “inspirational” as the students all reflected on how Hillary’s experiences could help them in their own journeys.

The former US Secretary of State was this year’s headline act at the literature festival, where she was promoting her book, What Happened, which explores the 2016 election campaign and the personal aftermath that followed.

Host Mariella Frostrup questioned Mrs Clinton about her feminist views, Donald Trump’s inauguration and the pair discussed what her immediate emotions were after she lost the election.