A YOUTH project in Ludlow and south Shropshire has won a grant of more than £30,000.

South Shropshire Youth Forum has teamed up with Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty partnership, Titterstone Clee Heritage Trust, Shropshire Wildlife Trust, with the support of other local organisations and has put together a programme of local heritage and outdoor based activities for young people aged 11-18.

It has been awarded a two-year grant through the Heritage Lottery Young Roots programme to continue engaging young people in the local area. The Young Rangers project is also funded through the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’s own conservation fund.

The two-year project will tackle rural isolation through a programme of heritage activities and skills for young people. The Young Rangers concept was first developed in 2002/03 by the EUROPARC Federation and since then the model has been taken up by more than 50 protected areas across Europe. The Clee project will start with free activities taking place over the summer holidays.

Activities booked over the summer will include making a hunter-gatherer camp, which will include learning how people lived in the middle stone age.

Throughout the year there’ll be other activities, such as, outdoor adventure activities (canoeing, mountain biking) and other heritage days, with the Wildlife Trust and other partners where local young people can learn more about the landscape and areas where they live and what needs to be done to protect and management them.

“I am delighted South Shropshire Youth Forum’s Clee Young Rangers project has received this substantial grant from the Heritage Lottery Foundation,” said Ludlow MP Philip Dunne.

“A grant of £31,100 will enable this project to encourage more children to learn about our rural heritage and the importance of the local landscape.”