YOUNG people in west Wiltshire could be the next generation of top DJs thanks to more than £19,000 of funding for a year-long project at the Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford on Avon.

The Wiltshire Youth Arts Partnership has been awarded £19,257 from the National Foundation of Youth Music for a young people's music technology event which will run at the centre during half-term holidays in the coming year.

Three Music Xpress courses are planned to help youngsters aged 13-21 develop DJ-ing skills, create their own tracks and burn their songs onto CDs to take away with them.

Staff from the Centre and St Laurence School will help recruit youngsters for the courses by holding taster sessions in Youth Centres across west Wiltshire, targeting young people at risk from rural isolation, as well as excluded pupils from schools, young offenders and young people being looked after by foster parents or carers.

The course also aims to tackle the problem of DJ-ing courses being mainly attended by boys by holding specific sessions solely for girls to develop their skills.

Angela Stribling, Wiltshire youth arts co-ordinator, said: "This exciting award will bring new music technology workshops for young people all over Wiltshire."