A NUMBER of scouts have become involved in a scheme to tidy gardens in Teesdale in return for funding which will help send them to the world jamboree in Thailand later this year.

The scheme, which is available to tenants of the Home Housing Association, was devised after scoutmaster Colin Clarke talked to tenants' officer John Reay to see if they could get a project up and running in return for sponsorship.

In return for tidying up the gardens of its elderly and disabled tenants in the dale, Home Housing has donated £500 to 1st Barnard Castle Scouts to aid six youths who will travel to the jamboree over the Christmas period. The association has also given £250 worth of equipment to enable them to tackle the gardens, and on Sunday the first tenants benefited as Jack White of Startforth, Ashley Moore of Barnard Castle and Martin Kneller of Middleton in Teesdale gave up their bank holiday to spend a back breaking morning digging, raking and cutting at properties in Zetland and Dale Road in Barnard Castle.

But they all agreed it was worth it in exchange for the trip to the jamboree, which will see them - along with Peter Williams of Barnard Castle and Steven Bainbridge and Alex Crawley of Middleton in Teesdale - spend three days in a top Bangkok hotel, reputed to be the largest in the world, with the rest of the UK and United States contingent, before attending the ten-day jamboree, where they will stay in host homes. They will then move on to Malaysia where they will stay with scouts for a further week.

Meanwhile the elderly residents, whom we agreed not to identify for personal safety reasons, were delighted with the lads' efforts.

Any elderly or disabled tenant of Home Housing who would like to be considered for the scheme should contact Mr Reay on 01388 815539.