A COURAGEOUS 12-year-old has stepped up to be the face of a national poster campaign.

Max Leng was born with a birthmark covering his face as a result of having the rare condition Sturge-Weber syndrome, which also causes him to have epilepsy.

Max Leng went to Grantham Station to see his Changing Faces poster unveiled.

But the William Farr School pupil refuses to let something as superficial as his appearance get in his way.

And now his face is seen beaming down from 200 railway stations across the country in attempt to change attitudes.

The UK charity Changing Faces launched its children's Face Equality campaign earlier this year using Max and three other children with similar facial disfigurements as models.

The 6ft by 4ft posters have already been displayed throughout the London Underground and were this week rolled out at stations across the UK.

Max, who lives with mum and step-dad, Lisa and Steve Pearce and sister Molly Read,18, at Hemswell Cliff, near Gainsborough, went to Grantham Station yesterday to see his poster unveiled.

Max, who has appeared on This Morning as part of the Face Equality campaign, said that some days his birthmark bothers him and on other days it does not.

"If people make comments about it I get really annoyed with them because they don't understand what it's like," he said.

"There's lots of people out there with disfigurements."

Mr Pearce said: "The fact these guys are willing to be part of a poster campaign shows they are no different from other children.

"He knows his birthmark isn't anybody's fault and has a 'take me as you find me' attitude."

Colin Darling, regional officer for Changing Faces in the Midlands, said: "The children in the poster campaign often don't have a functional disability, they just look different.

"But the disability they experience is from the way they are treated."

For more information on Changing Faces, call 0845 4500275.