PIONEERING youngsters in Bere Alston are keeping their fingers crossed that planners will give their very own project the thumbs-up.

Youth to Youth is the brainchild of Kerry Friend, Liam Cotterel, Claire Stead and Julia Page, all aged between 19 and 20, who felt there was nowhere in the village where young people could go to for confidential advice or information.

They are applying for planning permission to change the use of premises in Fore Street for their centre.

'It would be great bebecause it's in the village under an arch, so it's quite discreet,' said

Kerry.

She said Youth to Youth started about 18 months ago after a questionnaire, carried out by the group, revealed substantial support for a youth-led drop-in centre.

'We wanted to open a place so if anyone has any problems, they've got someone their own age to talk to and we're being trained so we can handle it ourselves,' said Kerry.

The group have been receiving training from professional youth worker Elaine Barr, who lives in Bere Alston and works at Tavistock's Volunteer Bureau.

'I've known most of them since they were little and then one of them approached me with the idea,' said Mrs Barr.

'They recognised they needed training — the whole ethos of the group is based on that, it's an ongoing process,' she said.

'It's their project, run by young people, for young people, they've got a lot of local support.'

The group have been studying for TAP2 youthwork training qualifications which have included study sessions on assertiveness, confidentiality, equal opportunities, role playing and basic communication skills.

They have a management committee and once their premises have been confirmed, the group will apply for charity status.

Youth to Youth is off to a flying start, with a one-year pilot project start-up grant from the M-Power Millennium Awards which will pay for premises — but the hunt for funds is ongoing.

'We are hoping to get funding to send four of them to the UN Conference in Bratislava to present a workshop on what they are doing,' said Mrs Barr who explained that peer counselling does not exist in many countries — including America.

The Rev Nick Law of Bere Ferrers is on Youth to Youth's management committee — he said he thought the project was a 'fantastic' idea.

'They have worked so hard,' he said. 'Even if nothing happened and the project falls flat on its face, it's made a significant improvement to their perception of themselves.

'It's all been done in an incredibly professional way.'

Mr Law said premises for the training sessions had been provided by the church and said he hoped this involvement would lend the project additional credibility.

'Part of the problem is the idea of young people doing something themselves which some people are bit suspicious of,' he said.

Youth to Youth's change-of-use application will be considered by West Devon Borough Council's planners next month.

Planning officer Edward Persse said the matter could be considered by the committee in February or may be treated as a delegated decision.

'It depends on what sort of reaction we get to it,' he said.