A BORDERS teenager has revealed that performing music has helped her overcome anger issues.

Ellie Louise Wood, 14, from St Boswells, has been singing for as long as she can remember, and taught herself to play several instruments.

Earlier this month, Ellie’s mum Kim Pollock, 33, filmed her daughter as she performed an acoustic rendition of Shannon Purser’s song Sunflower.

“When she realised I was filming, she didn’t expect it to be posted,” said Kim.

“She’s in her school uniform and totally relaxed.

“I thought I’d share it on my [Facebook] page with friends and family because a lot of them haven’t heard her sing.”

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But after the mum-of-three posted the video on a family lockdown page on social media, the video was viewed 26,500 times in one day by friends, family and strangers alike.

“I didn’t expect there to be as many people,” explained Ellie.

“It’s exciting but it’s still a little bit scary.”

Ellie, who is self-taught on the guitar, revealed that singing and playing music aren’t just hobbies; they are skills which have been crucial in helping her overcome certain issues in her life.

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Kim said: “It’s [music] been really good for her – Ellie had quite a bit of anger issues.

“It’s definitely changed her attitude as well.”

Ellie said: “I had to talk with people about anger issues and things.

"But I think music is another way to help with things like that; like stress.

"It makes me feel a lot happier.”

And Ellie is using her new-found happiness to help spur on her songwriting, too.

She said: “If I decide I want to write a song, it’s more about how you feel at the time of writing a song, rather than taking random topics and writing about it.”

After finding overnight success with this first video, does the Earlston High School pupil see a career in music?

She said: “I’m not really sure, I feel like I want to try and do my best with what I can do and then just see where it goes.”

And Kim couldn’t be prouder of her daughter’s talents: “We didn’t think we’d get anything out of this.

“Ellie’s always quite shy with her music and I’m just a super proud mum.”

To watch the short video of Ellie singing Sunflower, you can visit Kim's Facebook page.