A COMPETITION to mark young people's contribution to their community is to be judged with the help of two Stockton teenagers.

Becky Davies, 16, and Simon Keay, 18, are judges on the panel for the youth challenge competition - Actions speak louder.

The competition, which is funded by the Department for Education and Skills, recognises the achievement of young people in creating things to do and places to go in their community.

In April last year, the Government launched the Youth Opportunity Fund and the Youth Capital Fund, a two-year £115m investment in activities and facilities for 13 to 19-year-olds.

Becky and Simon will join 21 young judges on the the Youth Empowerment Panel at Birmingham's Aston University this weekend to pick the winning projects.

Becky, who attends Egglescliffe Sixth Form, is a member of Stockton Youth Assembly and the North-East Regional Youth Assembly.

She said: "There isn't a lot for young people to do around here and I wanted to get involved in how money is spent to improve facilities in our local area.

"Being a judge for the national competition means I can have an influence on where the prize money is spent and what it is spent on.

"It's a chance for young people to have a say on what they think needs improving in the country."

Simon, who is spending his gap year working as a teaching assistant at Beechwood Primary School, in Middlesbrough, and Ian Ramsey Secondary School, in Stockton, is also a member of Stockton Youth Assembly and is chairman of Stockton Youth Bank.

"We're always reading about the bad things young people get up to, like problems with alcohol or drugs," he said. "But we never see much in the local papers about the good that the young people are doing.

"This competition is a way of promoting the positive contribution that young people make to society and I really wanted to get involved in that."