A GROUP of youngsters from the Northallerton area are planning to take the trip of a lifetime this summer.

Along with two local youth workers from North Yorkshire County Council's community education service, the eight youngsters will be attending a youth camp in Mongolia.

They have been given the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity after successfully bidding for a £4,000 grant from the British Council.

Competition for places was stiff among Northallerton's youngsters.

The chosen team comprises sixth-formers Lisa Bradley, Sam Quinn, Mark Tulip and Ed Shurlock, Year 11 students Sammy Baker and Tina Hamnett, and Year 10 students Raveen Jayasuriya and Caroline Quinn.

Leaving in July they will fly to Beijing and on to Ulan Bator, capital of Mongolia to stay with families in the city.

They will then travel to Blue Sky camp, 110km south of Ulan Bator, to meet hundreds of other young people from around the world.

The group will be led by senior youth worker Keith Best and environmental youth worker Emma Casson, who said: "It is so amazing to have won this bid, the young people are so excited about what they are going to experience."

The group is raising money towards the trip.