CHILDREN in some of Southampton's most deprived areas will be given the chance to take part in rugby for the first time through an ambitious new initiative.

Southampton Rugby Club will be targeting raw youth talent after the Outer Shirley Regeneration Board granted £38,000 to pay for a development officer and assistant.

The duo will be visiting schools throughout Millbrook, Redbridge, Maybush, Shirley Warren and Coxford to develop a junior section of Southampton Rugby Club.

More than 100 children are set to take part in the scheme aimed at producing a new generation of rugby talent to grace Southampton Rugby Club's Test Park, Millbrook home.

The grant for developing rugby in outer Shirley comes after the regeneration board previously agreed to fund a football development programme in the area which is already producing a crop of exciting talent under the watchful eye of Roy Beazley.

Outer Shirley Regeneration Board chairman Adrian Millward said: "The board were delighted to support this project. We have already funded a community football programme which has proved enormously popular and I am confident that this success will be repeated with the rugby project."

Meanwhile, the regeneration board also approved a £30,000 grant, to go with £15,000 put up by Southampton City Safety and Drug Action Team, for small grants for the local community.

Grants of up to £2,000 each will be available for community organisations and small businesses to improve safety and security measures.

Bob Reeve, the regeneration safety co-ordinator, said: "The grants will be on offer to cover 50 per cent of works including CCTV, alarms and shutters."