'Getting the community working together again' is the aim of a Dawlish Action for Youth project in which young people will do things that benefit others.

It is one of the initiatives that will be funded by a National Lottery grant of almost £9,000, which the organisation applied for in June.

The Community Champions project will start in the week beginning Monday, October 26, and will run for three months.

Young people can take part individually or in groups, and will receive a certificate and a prize when they have completed five community actions.

Beth Hingston, lead youth worker at the Red Rock Centre, said: "It could be baking a cake for their neighbour, it could be litter picking, anything that supports the people around them.

"The main idea is just to get the community working together again."

Virtual activity sessions

The National Lottery funding will also go towards staffing and resources for weekly Zoom activity sessions for any of the young people who would normally have attended the centre.

Beth said: "Although we're opening some of our sessions now, some people can't attend due to being high risk, and we can only have 15 young people in the centre at a time, so that does mean that people may miss out."

The Zoom sessions will include games, quizzes, and activities such as baking. Resources for the baking sessions will be available beforehand to collect for participants who have booked a session in advance.

Staff and volunteer training

In addition to the youth activities, £600 of the National Lottery money will fund training for staff and volunteers. The training will focus on combating loneliness, and will also ensure that they are fully informed about the pandemic.

The grant will also help Dawlish Action for Youth to make up the shortfall in income caused by the suspension of all its events and activities during the Covid-19 lockdown.