A CLUB has received £1,324 to take youngsters on trips out in the school holidays.

The East Cleveland Holiday and Out of School Club (Echo Web) has received the cash from the Local Network Fund for Children and Young People.

Echo Web takes children aged three to 14 from the East Cleveland area, which has wards among the top 20 most deprived in the country.

Many children helped by the group have special needs, including autism and ADHD.

Barbara Baker, Echo Web co-ordinator, said: "The money has paid for entrance fees and transport costs and has enabled us to take the kids to places they wouldn't normally get to see. I wanted to make sure that they returned to school in September full of stories about their summer activities, just like their classmates from more affluent backgrounds.

"We have already taken them to the real-life Second World War PoW Eden Camp at Marton in North Yorkshire, which is now a museum, and are planning trips to the Sea Life Centre, Hartlepool Historic Quay and Diggerland in Langley Park."

Helen Atkinson, aged seven, said of her trip to Eden Camp: "It was fun. We pretended bombs were falling and we had to hide. We saw tanks and planes and learned about the black-outs."