A new plastic gig with oars for Helford River Gig Club, new table football equipment at St Keverne Young People's Club and a 16 foot wrestling ring for Evenstar are just some of the projects in Kerrier which have benefited from the Our Money Your Dream Project over the past 12 months.

In September 2006 Cornwall was allocated almost £450,000 from The Youth Opportunity Fund and The Youth Capital Fund set up by the Government as part of its commitment to improving the provision of positive activities for young people, including sporting, cultural and recreational opportunities.

Grant applications, which must be made by young people either as individuals or in groups, are considered by six Youth Opportunity Fund Panels - one for each district - comprising up to 16 young people representing a cross section of young people from different backgrounds. The Panels are run by young people, supported by the county council's youth service, Cornwall and Devon Connexions and the voluntary sector.

Projects could range from creating new youth clubs or sports teams, organising trips, funding new facilities such as go karting and paint balling, setting up anti bullying projects in schools and environmental projects to improve a village or estate, to providing new sports, music or ICT equipment and developing skate parks or youth shelters and improving facilities in local parks and community areas.

Since September the six Panels have supported 124 projects across the Cornwall aimed at providing the kinds of things young people want to do and the places they want to go in the county, benefiting more than 7,000 young people. These range from providing new sports, music and arts equipment and funding trips and transport to setting up internet cafes and supporting major schemes to improve buildings and community centres.

Cornwall has now been allocated a further £450,000 and a special event was held in St Austell this week to enable panel members to discuss how the fund should run over the next 12 months.

Members of the Kerrier Panel have spent more than £60,000 on 28 projects. These include £2,592 to the Lizard Youth Theatre, £4,525 to the Troon Cricket Club Youth Section to improve facilities, equipment and improve their own abilities to coach and play cricket, £500 to the St Keverne Young People's Club to buy table football equipment and £1,000 to youngsters from Curnow School to paint an update area and plant colourful flowers and bulbs.

Other projects include £9,302 to the Helford River Gig Club to buy a plastic gig with oars, £12,000 to Real Base Training to construct a kitchen and lunchroom to promote healthy cooking, and £3,450 to Evenstar to purchase a 16 foot wrestling ring to enable them to set up wrestling training.

"The Panels have worked extremely well this year and we want to build on this success ," said Nick Cook, Our Money Your Dream Co-ordinator.

"They have received applications for a wide range of projects, many of which have been approved and are now up and running".

"Members of the Panels are now reviewing what has been achieved since the project began in September and deciding if they need to make any changes to the criteria"