YOUNGSTERS from the Bournemouth area were put through their paces at Okehampton Army Camp this week as part of a ground-breaking pilot project with the aim of diverting young people from possible offending behaviour. The ?Build to the Future? project took 35 young people from nine different schools in Dorset, who have been identified as possibly at risk of becoming young offenders, and helps them develop self-confidence and team-building skills through a variety of activities. The youngsters, all aged 15, are at Okehampton Army Camp all this week as part of the six-week project. This pilot initiative is part of a multi-agency approach involving Bournemouth Youth Offending Team, the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment of the Army and the Local Education Authority. Personnel from the regiment have been tasked with providing the training for the young people throughout the week. Sgt Alex Rennie, the military co-ordinator for the project, said among the activities the young people had tackled were an assault course, paint-balling, hill-walking, cycling, firing range practice and Dartmoor survival skills. ?They seem to be loving every minute of it,? Sgt Rennie said, as the youngsters jumped over walls and crawled through tunnels on the assault course, He said that for many of the youngsters, the course was a good opportunity to try some of these activities for the first time as well as developing team-working and leadership skills. Sgt Rennie said the scheme should not be viewed as a ?boot camp? or an army recruitment exercise. ?From our point of view, we are trying to raise the Army?s profile. Everyone is here voluntraily. Around 12 to 15 of the young people on the course are here because they have expressed an interest in what we do, some of them are Army Cadets already.? Mick Nock, of the Bournemouth youth offending team, said: ?We have got youngsters from Bournemouth, Poole and Wimborne here who have been identified by their schools as most likely to benefit from the activities. ?We split them all up into teams when they arrived, so they have to bond together. ?The project is about giving young people a sense of achievement. They are learning a lot of skills. ?We have seen a real difference in the way they are behaving. They are intermingling and encouraging each other and their confidence has come on no end.? The young people have spent a day a week for the past five weeks building up to the five-day stay at the camp which represents the most intensive part of the course. After leaving Okehampton, they will spend a further week reviewing their achievements before attending a presentation ceremony later this month. The pilot project will be evaluated and if successful the Youth Offending Team will be looking to extend the project to run three times a year. The project is being closely watched by Whitehall and if deemed to be a success by the Youth Justice Board, stands a good chance of being rolled out across England and Wales.