SCHOOLGIRLS Rebecca Abingdon and Iris Buffery live just 11 miles apart – but their lives could not be more different.

Both girls are aged nine and share a passion for animals and the outdoors, but Rebecca lives in a 38-room mansion in Rodborough while Iris lives in a housing association home in Berkeley.

The pair met while filming an episode of Channel 4 series How The Other Half Lives, where a wealthy family sponsors a poorer one.

Rebecca and Iris struck up a close friendship despite their lives being poles apart.

The episode, which screened on Thursday, showed Iris and her mum Cal, a single parent and former New Age traveller who turned her life around, struggling to afford games and clothes from a charity shop.

Meanwhile Rebecca, whose dad David is a multi-millionaire marketing boss, is privately educated at Beaudesert School in Minchinhampton and enjoys playing in a seven-acre back garden.

David, his wife Angie, Rebecca and her 13-year-old brother George visited Cal and Iris at their two-bedroom home to get a vivid insight into the rural poverty not far from their doorstep.

Single mum Cal once lived in a horse trailer but gave it up when she became pregnant with Iris – she then paid her way through university to gain a masters in law.

But this left her with debts of £20,000 and she had to work part-time in Ladbrokes just to pay the bills.

Cal also struggled to find an all-important pupilage, which would complete her law training and mean she could work as a barrister.

The programme shows how the Abingdons help Cal pay off her debts for the next two years.

They also set up a £3,000 trust fund for Iris and bought her a new laptop, guitar, horse-riding lessons and clothes including a new school uniform.

David also offered Cal a £20,000-a-year job at his firm, The Alchemy Network in Stonehouse, and is still trying to help her find a pupilage.

Since the programme, which was filmed in December, the families have kept in close contact.

Cal told the SNJ she found it difficult to accept the first £4,000 cheque given to her by the Abingdons.

"I was shell-shocked - I had never watched the programme before and thought David would simply be giving me help with my CV," she said.

"I was immensely grateful for that so I was left in shock when we received the cheque.

"Off camera the producers spent three hours persuading me to take it – I did not want to come over as a charity case.

"The money has made our lives more comfortable - it means I do not have to worry about my debts and it means Iris and I can do things together at the weekends, like go to the cinema."

The programme also had a strong positive effect on the Abingdon family.

Angie said: "David was originally approached to take part in the The Secret Millionaire but when producers met us they decided we would be better for this.

"Myself and David both come from poorer backgrounds - David grew up on a council estate in Birmingham.

"We were all flabbergasted when we realised how hard Cal had worked to get her law masters but could not work as a barrister.

"I think our children were changed by the programme - it really showed them that not everyone who works hard is as fortunate as David.

"They always realised they were lucky but this just brought it home."

How The Other Half Live is on for another five weeks at 9pm every Thursday on Channel 4.

This particular episode can be viewed online at www.channel4.com