YOUNGSTERS are helping to make life brighter for residents at a special accommodation complex for former military personnel.

Teenagers from Sacriston, County Durham, have presented eight planters to St Peter’s Court in the village, a 16-bed apartment block run by the charity SHAID – Single Homeless Action in Derwentside.

The planters contain a conifer and bedding plants and were created by a group of ten on the HAGGRID project run by the Durham Agency Against Crime.

The project is aimed at youngsters who want to get experience of horticulture and agriculture and work on projects that help the community.

The 14-year-olds from Fyndoune School are also involved in a scheme on allotments at Chester-le-Street.

PC Iain Robertson, project co-ordinator, said the teenagers wanted to help St Peter’s because it was the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War.

He said the tubs used by the team had been seized by police raiding cannabis factories and were put to good used instead of being destroyed.

The HAGGRID scheme runs in other areas of County Durham, including Stanley, Durham City, Ferryhill and Bishop Auckland.