A CHURCH run charity is looking to start a scheme offering support to teenagers who are at risk of grooming.

The Shildon Alive scheme is seeking to train up volunteers to speak to teenagers on issues affecting them and to offer support and advice where needed.

Funding of £198,000 from the Big Lottery was secured a year ago to start Shildon Alive and it now runs several projects in the town.

Among them is a food bank, community gardens and a scheme which provides meals to people on low incomes.

The mentoring project is the latest idea, with several teenagers in Shildon already set to receive help from the volunteers.

It has £3,000 of Shildon Alive funding and it is expected to go live in February.

Reverend David Tomlinson, of St John’s Church, Shildon, and chairman of Shildon Alive, said: “This is for youngsters who have been misled or groomed or taken advantage of in Shildon.

“This is an exciting project and it means youngsters will have someone to speak to who is not a family member or a teacher.

“Following conversations that we have had around this we know that children in Shildon are facing issues which they should not be.

“So far we have five teenage girls on board who we are going to mentor but we would like to extend this scheme to allow us to help more people in the future.”

The move comes following high profile cases where children have been groomed in Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, and Rochdale, in Lancashire.

Jail sentences were handed out to several men convicted following court cases in Rotherham and Rochdale.

Shildon Alive, which has premises on Church Street, is also looking to run an improved advocacy service offering help to residents who might need legal advice.

It will also re-run projects from last year such as Guerrilla Gardening where children planted flowers in Shildon, a credit union and foodbank.

During 2014 Shildon Alive also served 4,212 meals to people who could not afford food. It has 150 volunteers who help run it and looks to tackle isolation.

The funding is in place to run Shildon Alive until 2019 but organisers expect the project to last beyond then.

Rev Tomlinson said: “Everything so far has been a great success and we’re surprised at how well it has gone.

“The point of this is that it’s not about the church saying we are doing this but it is about the community saying what can we do together to make things better.

“Shildon people have a reputation of being there for others and I think hardship does that for a community. You either pull together or you go under.”