More than 80 groups and organisations across Keighley vied for a share of the town's first Neighbourhood Renewal pay-out.

Just 17 of them were successful in getting a cut of the £310,000 on offer for education, crime, health, employment and housing projects.

A hand-picked group of local people had spent eight hours sifting through applications together worth millions of pounds.

Their recommendations were approved last week by Keighley Area Panel, the Bradford council committee made up of councillors representing the Keighley area.

Unsuccessful applicants are being pointed to other cash pots, and some have already been promised alternative funding.

The successful groups will have to give quarterly reports to the panel on how they are spending the money.

But the Neighbourhood Renewal programme does not stop there: even more money is available over the next two financial years.

The Bradford district has been given £22 million to spend on projects to benefit people in deprived areas of the city, towns and villages.

The accent is on innovative schemes to improve local life, as well as encourage radical changes to the way traditional services are provided by bodies such as the council, police and health agencies.

As well as the Keighley Area Panel money, other Neighbourhood Renewal cash is being spent this year in Keighley through the town's PACT group, which attracts European Objective 2 money.

THE SUCCESSFUL SCHEMES:

Children and parents who do not see any point to education are the targets of the new Enhancements project at Holy Family School. The Keighley school wants to break the cycle of "anti-education, anti-exam, anti-qualification" that sometimes runs in families.

It will offer a variety of activities such as speed-reading, touch typing, subject surgeries and adult literacy and numeracy lessons. The £14,000 grant will fund various family learning schemes as well as identify under-achieving in deprived areas.

Children who have never been out of Keighley will be taken on walks in the countryside thanks to an £800 grant. Eastwood Walking Group has been set up through Eastwood School's learning support centre. The grant will enable it to take a greater number of children from the poverty-stricken community on Saturday trips.

The old Haworth police station will reopen as a contact point for a range of services in the village. Volunteers could give information on crime reduction, anti-social behaviour, jobs, youth unemployment and training. The £6,000 initiative will enable several organisations to base themselves at the building on Changegate.

Jobless people will be given low-interest loans to help them start their own businesses through the Microcredit Pilot Project. Keighley Local Enterprise Agency will use its £10,000 grant to lend up to £1,000 to each entrepreneur. The long-established agency will offer ongoing advice, training and support to the fledgling businesses.

Hainworth Wood Community Centre will continue to have a worker thanks to its £11,000 grant. The worker will help residents manage the building, organise activities and provide a base for other services. The aim is to revitalise community life in the Woodhouse and Spring Bank estate, as well as other surrounding areas such as Denby Road and Wesley Place.

Teenage truants will be given educational help through a new £12,000 Supported Learning scheme. "Learning mentors" would help up to 35 Greenhead and Oakbank students who have not attended school for long periods. The project is the brainchild of Keighley's Russell Street Project, which is experienced at providing vocational training for teenagers and adults.

Sport and other active pursuits will help local people improve their health through a £15,000 scheme. Airedale Primary Care Trust has teamed up with development group Sport Keighley to run the Active Communities project.

The Safe Rider bus service will extend its coverage to the most deprived areas of Keighley through a £12,000 grant. The service will help people get to educational courses, medical appointments and health and exercise sessions, shops and other town centre services.

Young people are the main target for a new package of services planned through the new Bracken Bank Community Initiative. The estate's Community Association will spend its £12,000 grant on an integrated programme of services and facilities. It is responding to the needs of residents, including long-standing issues raised at public meetings across the estate.

Long Lee could get a community centre with help from a £10,000 Neighbourhood Renewal grant. Long Lee and Thwaites Brow Action Group aims to turn a disused community building and adjoining land into a "neighbourhood resource centre".

Study support and employment advice for Keighley's Bangladeshi community will be expanded thanks to a £12,000 grant. The 19-year-old Bangladeshi Community Association will take on two trainees at its centre in Kensington Street, Holycroft. The association wants to increase GCSE attainment levels and school attendance through its homework club. It will also provide access to computers, job search advice and help to improve basic skills and IT skills.

Soccer coaching and computer activities will be used to stop vandalism in the Dalton Lane area. Keighley Voluntary Services will spend its £11,000 grant on a Youth Action project aimed at boys aged seven to 12.

A "police station" will be set up in Keighley's Greenhead School thanks to a £40,000 grant to West Yorkshire Police. And a further £30,000 grant will be spent on a Youth Crime Prevention Worker to help youngsters at risk of becoming criminals.

A base for community activities and local services will be set up in Stockbridge with the help of a £14,000 grant. Stockbridge Neighbourhood Development Group sees the centre as a focal point for efforts to revitalise the area, which was devastated by floods in November 2000.

New play facilities for youngsters in Parkwood Rise could be the outcome of a project awarded a £15,000 grant. Bradford council's housing department wanted to appoint a part-time community worker and improve facilities for ten to 16-year-olds. Only a quarter of the grant application was approved, and officers will be expected to develop ideas with local people.

Local people will be trained to be "health activists" for their communities under a new £32,000 project. The Public Health Needs Analysis will first involve research among residents of several areas of Keighley. These will be first Holycroft, Stockbridge and Bracken Bank, then Lawkholme, Woodhouse and Long Lee, then Beechcliffe, Braithwaite, Guard House and Parkwood Rise.

An Anti-burglary group will be set up to carry out £70,000 of crime-busting initiatives across Keighley. It will be based around Keighley police's application for cash to run a massive burglary reduction scheme. But officers will be expected to take on board schemes suggested by four other groups and report to Keighley Anti-Crime Partnership.