A PROJECT that provides activities and trips for youngsters could be forced to close after it was refused a £20,000 grant, leaders have warned.

Ryedale Child and Youth Projects (RCYP) had hoped to secure the money from Ryedale District Council's community investment fund, but its application was turned down.

The £20,000 grant would have paid for a scrap store - a collection point for waste materials - to be set up in Pickering.

The materials would be used in arts projects and the scrap store would have hosted a £36,000 arts scheme funded by the National Lottery.

Project manager Andy Brown said without the scrap store, the arts scheme may not be able to go ahead and the Lottery money might have to be turned down.

He started RCYP from scratch five years ago to work with children and young people aged from four to 16.

As well as supporting and helping set up youth groups, it has organised events for young people across Ryedale, run discos and music events, developed a mobile resource centre and provided employment for youth workers.

The organisation is the area's biggest independent youth scheme and worked with 5,000 young people and their families last year.

Mr Brown said: "We have to apply to so many bodies for funding to keep all the aspects of our work going, but if one grant like this fails to come through, then other funding is also removed.

"If someone stepped forward right now with £20,000, we could save all our plans to work with youth groups for the next three years, but at the moment it looks pretty bleak and I can't see a way forward for the project at all."

Chairman of the project's board, Gill Hardacre, said: "It is such a dreadful blow for the whole community, especially after everyone has worked so hard and done so well to get most of the funding needed in place."

Councillor Robert Wainwright, who chairs the council's community investment fund panel, said: "We thought £20,000 was a lot of money for the scrap store scheme, and that in any case it would not be sustainable.

"Ryedale Child and Youth Project is a very good cause, and it does an excellent job, but sadly but we just didn't feel we could support it at this stage."