A FOOTBAL community trust is helping give young people the chance to experience adverturous activities after it launched a ‘National Citizen Service’ project.

Accrington Stanley Community Trust will take 16-17-year-olds from across the area to an outdoor pursuits centre in the Peak District, where they will be challenged to their limits for five days before heading home for the weekend.

The group will then stay in a university hall of residence at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston to learn how to live independently.

Team challenges will be set, including a dining task similar to Channel 4’s Come Dine With Me and a Big Brother-style shopping task.

National Citizen Service officer Lee Walsh said: “It’s to offer opportunities that people in the district might not normally get and to build young people’s confidence and skills to take with them into the next phase of life.

“The cooking task has a different theme each night, cuisine from a different country, so they will have to go out and buy the food for the next night and cook it for each other.”

The young people will also take part in a community action project which will allow the group to tackle any issues close to their hearts.

Everybody who completes the project will be awarded a certificate signed by prime minister David Cameron.

The cost of the scheme is £35, which covers both weeks.

Lee said: “It’s funded by the government’s cabinet office and it’s come down to us from the football league. Anybody aged 16 and 17 are welcome to apply. With it being so cheap it’s accessible to under-privileged families so it really is open to everybody.

“It’s first come first served. Once people get in touch, we will send a pack out. As soon as it comes back their place is secured.”

For more information, contact 01254 304071.