A PROJECT for troubled young people in Chester has won praise in parliament and from HM Inspectors.
The Junior Youth Inclusion Project, based at the Delta Centre in Blacon, was highly rated by HM Probation Inspectors for its work in crime prevention.
The report praised the group activity work and the relationships built with children.
The project works by identifying those children aged between eight and 14 who are at risk of going off the rails and causing problems in the area.
City MP Christine Russell used the project during a debate in the House of Commons on social exclusion last month.
She told fellow MPs that people like Sam Dutton, project coordinator, were 'transforming lives'.
Adam Nicholson, 15, of Hillside Road, is a good example.
Mum Claire Nicholson, 35, said: 'When he first started, he was getting excluded and police were at the door every five minutes.
'He was always fighting and even jumped out of the window in Blacon High School once.
'When I first came here with him I felt a bit offended as I thought how dare they talk to me about my children and parenting.'
But within weeks, Adam's attitude changed.
He is now a member of the RAF cadets in Chester and wants to join up once he finishes school.
Step-dad Dan Reynolds, 27, said: 'It's a lot calmer now. It used to be a nightmare but he's just calmed down.'
Adam's younger brother Charlie, 10, is now part of the project and Claire is taking on sessional work at the centre.
She has also set up a parenting committee to help other people in the same position she found herself.
