A SCHEME to get youngsters who have been excluded from school back on track has started successfully.

Two students from the Oakfield Pupil Referral Unit will be joining staff from the Duckworth Worcestershire Trust once a week for the next eight weeks to help out with various projects around the Worcester area.

Chris Lewis and Matt Hill, both 15, have already put their brush skills to the test by helping environment warden James Birbeck paint the railings at King George V Playing Fields in Brickfields.

They will also be doing a spot of gardening for the elderly and putting in some really hard graft at Chapter Meadows in Lower Wick.

"The lads didn't think they were going to enjoy the work but after the first day they both said they had a good time," James Birbeck told the Worcester News.

"We even had time to kick a football about at lunchtime. Hopefully this will be the first scheme of many."