A SCHEME that helps young people with criminal records get their lives back on track is looking to the future with a £5,000 cheque from a local radio station.

Smash the Swindon Mentoring and Self-Help Group needs to raise £106,000 to carry on its work after March next year, when its start-up funding from the Government runs out.

The £5,000 cheque, from the GWR Community Trust, will help Smash employ a professional fundraiser who it hopes will help it track down another year's worth of funds.

Smash co-ordinator, Richard Roberts, said he thought the project deserved to carry on because it had worked well in its first two years.

"It's a lot of money, but equally, it's a lot of money a year to keep a young person in prison," he said.

"We are very pleased with our results. There are people coming out of the programme with very changed lifestyles.

"They've had a history of offending, and that's either been blunted very severely or there's been no re-offending."

Smash, which is based at Upper Stratton, currently supports 24 young people referred to it by the courts, and matches them with mentors from all walks of life.

The mentors' role is to listen to the youngsters' problems, challenge their behaviour, and persuade them to live a more positive life. Smash is currently training another eight mentors.

, and is also in talks with the Royal Philantropic Society and Rayner Foundation about linking up with their established youth offending schemes.