Young people in night of honour
By Samantha Shale
A GROUP of teenagers who designed an indoor caving experience which all young people can use had their achievement celebrated last night.
The seven young people, who met at Blakewater College, formed an Adventure Learning Club based in Shadsworth, Blackburn, to help young people prepare for the real thing.
The group take part in a variety of adventure sports such as snowboarding and archery and decided to make three-storey caving an adventure experience all young people could enjoy.
Their achievement was recognised at The Blackburn with Darwen Youth Service Awards at King George's Hall, Blackburn.
The group are Dominic Wright, 16, Anthony Hargreaves, 17, Laura Hillary, 16, Luke Parker, 16, Kim Chapman, Leigh Nicholson, 17 and Mark Parkinson, 18.
Dominic said: "We wanted to do caving and it's expensive so you cannot expect people to pay for it, so this will be free.
"We applied to the Youth Opportunities Fund to help us build it ourselves."
The project was funded by £2,000 from the government's Youth Opportunity Fund and Youth Capital Fund.
Luke said: "We have seen the plans and we can't wait to see it done and work with other youth groups."
Chris Spencer, acting deputy youth service manager at the council's youth service team, said the group won because the project was innovative and something for everyone.
He said: "They were building something for all young people across the borough and it was very much young person led."
Some 65 projects in the borough shared £85,000 from the government project which aims to provide young people with things to do and places to go.
Other projects honoured at the ceremony included a programme of summer activities in Darwen and a refurbishment plan for a flood-hit rural youth centre. More than 200 young people aged between 11 and 25 received certificates.
Coun Maureen Bateson, executive member for children's services at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: "This event highlights just how many young people are doing positive things in our borough.
"All too often we only hear about the negative. We can be proud of all their achievements which is the real cause for celebration."
Link: http://tinyurl.com/27udme