YOUNGSTERS are helping to make their neighbourhoods safer by getting involved in a task force.

The Pennywell Junior Task Force meets every week-night in the Old Neighbourhood Centre, Pennywell, in Sunderland, where members take part in exercises and games designed to teach them respect and responsibility for their local area.

There are 130 youngsters involved, with between 30 and 40 attending on a regular basis.

Group leader Elaine Murray, 28, from the Sunderland Housing Group, said: "The junior task force has been a great success.

"It keeps the kids off the street and gives them somewhere to go after school.

"The children are taught to take responsibility for their actions and recognise the effects vandalism has on their neighbourhood."

One of the members, Scott Lawton, who has been with the group for two years, said: "I love coming here, it keeps me out of trouble.

"I meet people and I've learned lots.

"If we attend regularly and behave ourselves, we get rewarded with trips to the cinema and McDonalds."

The group is part of the Safer Estates Task Force Project, sponsored by the Sunderland Housing Group and Northumbria Police.