DEBBIE Clough began to help disadvantaged youngsters who were getting into trouble as a direct result of her own son's repeated brushes with the law.

She says he has resisted most of her attempts to help him, but he is the reason she works to try and improve things for other troubled youngsters.

Debbie, a mother of three, is the Children in Need project worker based at Bradford YMCA.

What started out as voluntary work evolved over a few years into a 30-hours-a-week paid post, which would not exist had CiN not stepped in last March with £50,000 to continue Debbie's work and cover overheads for another two years, at a moment when it looked as though the project would fold.

It had been decided that Lottery funding, which previously paid for five project workers, would be withdrawn, despite evidence of 80 per cent positive outcomes from the scheme to help young people who are, or in danger of, getting into trouble.

The project liaises with schools, social workers, police and probation services, all of whom have referred young people to the project, which was originally set up and funded by the Government to help to reduce youth offending in the Bradford 5 area, which had been identified as one of the country's five worst blackspots

"One of the main aims was to get them back into school or liaise with alternative education services," says Debbie.

"For others, we help to organise training, job searches, put them in touch with counselling, or accommodation services if they had nowhere to stay. Quite a few of the youngsters have problems of homelessness, drugs or alcohol and difficult relationships with families. Some are already young offenders.

"The job is about helping them to improve their lives and see new opportunities for themselves. One of the most important things is that they know they can come in here and have someone to talk to."

Kirsty, 18, was expelled from school when she was 14 for continually fighting and swearing at teachers. She'd been going about with a bad gang, and had started drinking and getting involved in car theft from the age of about 13.

She was arrested for shoplifting, and GBH (once involving an attack on a policeman), and her life was generally out of control. A fresh start at a new school when she was 15 lasted only four weeks, before Kirsty was truanting again in order to to drink and take drugs with others who had dropped out of education.

Her mother couldn't handle her, and Kirsty left home to live with a friend. At 16 she was pregnant by her boyfriend of a year, and moved back to her mum's. The relationship with the baby's father became very difficult and didn't last, but Kirsty began to sort her life out while she was pregnant, giving up drink and drugs for the sake of her child.

When little Mikkiel was five months old, Kirsty was put in touch with Debbie and colleagues, and she started to attend a basic skills course there in order to top up her knowledge of English and Maths. She went on to take part in a Prince's Trust scheme, doing voluntary work such as gardening for the elderly.

Kirsty now attends college four days a week while her son is at nursery, and lives with him in a flat. She's catching up on the education she lost during her wild years, although she admits she hasn't turned into a saint. "I'm going to do my exams and want to be a probation officer. I still go out once in a while with my friends and have a few drinks.

"Coming down to talk about my problems really helped, and I always knew there would be someone to listen and offer a bit of advice. They put me in touch with all sorts of other help, too."

Ray, 17, was referred to the project through education welfare officers. "I'd been arguing about everything with my mum for years, I didn't like school because I was bullied all the time, and I just went and played football rather then go to school."

He did a course in anger management after meeting Debbie and her colleagues, and then went on to do a basic skills course at the YMCA. Ray couldn't stay with his mum, but after referral to supported housing, he was attacked and beaten up. Another attempt at living at home failed, and he is now happier living with a friend. He's doing a construction course, and applying to college to train as a joiner.

"I don't know what I would have done if someone hadn't helped me to sort myself out," says Ray.

Katie, who's now 19, and the mother of livewire toddler Daniella, went off the deep end after her single-parent mother died of alcohol-related illness when she was 15. Katie and her siblings were taken into care. After initially deciding she would not drink to console herself, she later joined in with a gang of others who were drinking heavily and getting into crime.

At 16, Katie was involved in car theft and regularly drunk and disorderly.

She was referred by the magistrates court to the team based at the YMCA. She started Maths and English classes and began to calm down, giving up drinking and smoking completely when she got pregnant.

She hasn't been arrested for two years, and Katie shares care of Daniella with her ex-boyfriend, who was granted custody.

Along the way Katie met her father for the first time, and formed strong bonds with her step-sisters.

"I still drop in to the YMCA to talk and do job searches on the computer. I think I would have killed myself if I hadn't stopped drinking. I'm lucky that people here helped me, and I want to give something back.

"I'd like to train as something like a social worker, but I know I've got to do a lot of work to get there."


Children in Need starts at 7pm tonight on BBC1.