A GROUP of ten boys from Newport have been fighting anti-social behaviour in their community with the help of Gwent Police.

In July of this year, community support officer for Shaftesbury, Jan Woodward, approached youngsters to see what action they would like in order to improve their area.

Following talks with a number of young people, CSO Woodward formed the ‘Youf Gang’, who meet once a month at Shaftesbury Community Centre to discuss solutions to problems in the community.

CSO Woodward said she established the group in an attempt to make Shaftesbury a better place.

She said: “In recent months, there have been stints of anti-social behaviour in the area, and in the five months that this group has been going, we have been able to combat it by carrying out certain initiatives.

“Shaftesbury Community Centre has been a target of anti-social behaviour for some time now, and the boys recently came up with an idea to put spikes on top of the roof which has stopped people from climbing on it.”

In recognition of their hard work, the group of ten boys, aged 9 to 13, were invited to have lunch with the Mayor of Newport, Councillor Herbie Thomas, at the Newport Civic Centre yesterday.

Cllr Thomas said he was delighted to hear about the youngsters getting together to address issues within their community.

“The initiative is a bonus to the area and the maturity that the boys have shown is fantastic to see, and I really hope they do well in their future endeavours,” he added.

Chairperson of the Youf Gang, Daniel Pearson, 13, said a future project will see the group paint over offensive graffiti on the side of Shaftesbury Community Centre.

He added: “We’re going to paint our logo over the graffiti in an attempt to make a stand against anti-social behaviour and we hope by doing so, we can show people that we are here to make Shaftesbury a safer place.”

Labour members for Shaftesbury, Cllrs Paul Cockeram and Robert Poole both praised the group and hailed the youngsters as “role models”.

Cllr Cockeram said: “These boys are role models for Shaftesbury and it is good to see them all trying to make a difference at such a young age and they should all be very proud of themselves.”