Money comes in for Schools Out

Joanne White (third from the right), representing ROCA, hands over the cheque to leaders of the NDC scheme at the Honeywell Centre.

Holiday boost for youngsters

FIRST Choice Homes Oldham has awarded the Schools Out for Summer 2010 programme £4,651 to support activities for young people in the Medlock Vale and New Deal for Communities areas of the borough.

The funding was secured through First Choice Homes’ pioneering Respect Our Community Awards (ROCA) scheme, which was set up to support local initiatives.

Over the the two years of the project, a wide variety of activities have taken place in the borough including sports events during school holidays, musical theatre, cookery classes, area-wide picnics and community cohesion programmes.

ROCA’s much-needed grant has boosted a scheme devised to help reduce anti-social behaviour that often occurs during the school holidays.

Any young person in one of the most deprived areas of the borough can now take part in a variety of activities, all free of charge.

The scheme will run until August 27 and is available for any one aged eight to 19.

To mark the end of the month-long programme, a celebratory event will be held on August 31 when young people will be able to showcase any new skills they have learned during the summer.

For more information about how your local area can access funding from the ROCA scheme call Joanne White or Gill Thompson on 0161-770 3796.

For more information about the summer scheme call Andy, Poppy or Graham on 0161-621 3900.