A RURAL youth project in the Ribble Valley is hoping to get cash to help Duke of Edinburgh students, through the Internet.

If the Youth and Community team secure the funding they need for a pilot project, the Ribble Valley will have one of the first super highway information schemes specifically targeting the Duke of Edinburgh award programme.

John Kirkham, a youth and community worker with responsibility for the Duke of Edinburgh scheme in the Ribble Valley, said: "We have a meeting next week with the regional officer for the award programme and we are exploring funding. If we are successful, this would be one of the first such projects in Lancashire. "There has been a lot of interest shown in using the Internet in this way and it would be ideal for young people in the Ribble Valley, many of whom are isolated in rural locations, to be able to plug into as much help and information on the Duke of Edinburgh scheme as they need."

The Duke of Edinburgh awards consist of a programme of activities for all young people aged between 14 and 25. There are three levels - bronze, silver and gold - and at each level candidates have to complete a number of physical and community-based programmes.

Mr Kirkham added: "We will hopefully be able to use the internet to network individual people and also groups to make sure that everyone, no matter where they live in the Ribble Valley, will have all the help and information they need at hand."

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