THE mentoring scheme which helps vulnerable youngsters in Worcester has appeared with reassuring regularity in our columns since it began in Dines Green five years ago.

We make no apologies for casting the spotlight its way again, today, as the scheme prepares to expand into Droitwich, thanks to a handout of £100,000.

The fact that West Mercia police have increased their presence on the streets of the town suggests there's a delinquency problem which needs to be addressed.

But prevention's better than cure - and, given the success of the Worcester mentoring schemes, we'd encourage the community to embrace the project whole-heartedly.

For that to happen, it needs more volunteers and six co-ordinators.

What they give, we believe, will be more than rewarded by the transformation the see in the lives of their charges.

Between the ages of 14 and 17, young minds can be directed towards something that's valued and valuable as easily as they can be drawn from the straight and narrow.

The age might have passed where teenagers respond to a firm and friendly clip round the ear from a neighbourhood bobby.

But the mentoring scheme suggests to us that there still seems to be a place in society, the community and the lives of our youngsters for the guiding influence of an understanding, committed adult.

Maybe, indeed, the generation gap isn't as wide as we've come to believe it is.