EXTRA cash is on its way to help with out-of-school learning for young people and their parents.

St Helens Council has landed grants worth £134,000, spread over four years.

The money has comes from the New Opportunites Fund, which targets lottery cash at areas of social exclusion and disadvantage.

The money will be used to develop and extend the Transition Club at St Cuthbert's High School, Parr, where young people from partner primary schools attend one evening a week after school.

It will allow more pupils to attend and also expand the club to include parents who will be able to develop their literacy and numeracy skills.

The successful bid will also allow Haydock High School to develop a similar scheme, building on its Lads' and Dads' Club and evening computer courses for parents.

In two years time the project could be extended to Cowley High School and its partner primary schools and eventually to other schools in the borough where there is a high level of social deprivation to be tackled.

Chairman of the council's Education Committee, Councillor Andy Bowden, said: "Many young people do not have access to a quiet working space or a computer outside of normal schools hours and this scheme helps to address that problem."

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