Website launched to provide information for youngsters

The Evibe website is to be launched by Darlington Borough Council's youth service in the coming weeks, and will provide information and services for young people across the borough.

Schools and youth clubs will be visited by IT professionals to ask young people what they want to see on the website. They will then work to create a secure site that is tailored exactly to what young people in Darlington want.

Parents are also being asked to contribute by voicing their concerns about youngsters using the Internet and saying what information they want to be made available for their children.

Ideas for the website are for it to include advice on issues that affect youngsters, such as drugs and sexual health. Information will also be provided about what is available in Darlington for young people to do.

There will be links to other sites that contain relevant information for people under 19, and a secure chat room could also be set up for exclusive use by young people who sign up to the youth service.

The website will also provide an easy way to get in touch with the youth service and say what facilities they want to see in the town.

The project coincides with the launch of TextVibe, a text messaging service for young people to receive information direct to their mobiles from the youth service, and gives them the chance to air opinions on issues in the town.

Darlington's youth service was criticised in a report by government education watchdog Ofsted for giving unsatisfactory value for money, but its latest project has met with praise.

Trevor Adams, whose son Stuart, 15, was killed while playing on the East Coast Main Line in Darlington on Good Friday, is campaigning for better services for teenagers.

He said the website was a welcome idea. "It's good that things are starting to happen, and anything that comes in can only be good," he said.

"Any move that is made can only be positive, and at least people are trying."