Heaps more fun will be on the agenda for the county’s young people thanks to new funding.

Basketball tournaments, adventure weekends and a relaunched youth club have all been made possible thanks to a fund which has distributed cash to 15 groups this week.

Oxford Young Steps meets every week at Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre, where it runs sport and music activities for children and young people aged between eight and 25.

It has now been awarded £1,000 through the county council’s Chill Out Fund.

Coordinator Lawrence Shama said: “We will be spending the funds on hiring the hall where we meet. We will also be having a basketball tournament in October.

“We are trying to build their confidence and give them something positive to do.

Other beneficiaries include Cherwell Theatre Company, music charity Soundabout and Chalgrove Youth Club.

Chalgrove Parish Clerk Jo Donoghue said: “We were pretty pleased to get the funding. It was a lovely surprise.

“We provide a place for young people to come to just chill out. We have board games, a pool table and a tuck shop. It is an important service for the village.”

Chalgrove Youth Club, which is run by the parish council, was awarded £4,360.

The funds will go towards employing youth workers to make sure the club can keep running regularly after cuts were made by the county council.

The Sweatbox in Wantage, another youth club which stopped receiving cash from the council, was awarded £2,250.

Youth work manager Garry Kingett said: “We are going to use the funds to relaunch the youth club. We are going to make it bigger, brighter and better. We are quite a popular music venue and we are hoping to have an outdoor performance area.”

The county council allocates £100,000 a year to its Chill Out Fund, which supports leisure groups aimed at people aged between eight and 19.

One of the conditions of funding being given is the initiative must have already received financial backing from other bodies.

Andy McCulloch, activity coordinator at Witney-based Adventure Plus which was awarded £1,000, believes schemes like the Chill Out Fund are more important than ever.

He said: ”A lot of organisations are not able to have the necessary facilities without things like the Chill Out Fund.”

Adventure Plus runs a programme of adventure activities for vulnerable young people.

Last week more than £16,000 was allocated to 14 different groups across the county.

BREAKDOWN Soundabout: £2,000 Watlington Youth Club: £3,120 Chalgrove Youth Club: £4,360 Guideposts: £1,196 Harwell Parish: £1,000 Cherwell Theatre Company: £500 Innovista International: £2,250 Oxford Hub: £550 Abingdon Rowing Club: £1,000 Oxford Young Steps: £1,000 The Project Room: £340 Victory Revival Christian Centre: £500 Adventure Plus: £1,000 Chinnor Youth Club: £1,785 Sweatbox 2: £2,250