A new project is being spearheaded in Keighley to find shelter for homeless Asian youngsters - and to give them training at the same time.

Homelessness among youngsters with an ethnic minority background is on the increase in Keighley.

Of the 164 under 25-year-olds seeking help from Keighley-based Key House last year, 21 had Asian roots.

The Mera Makhan project - which means 'My Home' in Punjabi - will cost £612,000. Half is expected from Keighley Single Regeneration Budget and it will provide homes for 16 youngsters over the next four years.

Jackie Coutts of the housing advice service, Key House, said homelessness among the Asian community was likely to grow because it was estimated that by the year 2005, one third of youngsters in Keighley would have an Asian background.

The aim was to involve the community in the project to find suitable premises and then to refurbish the building with the support of charities and training agencies.

Youngsters seeking help would be encouraged to get involved in the project by receiving on-the-job training in related building work and in housing management and office skills.

"Nothing like this has been tried before. There have been self-build projects but not in the Asian community. There are not large numbers of homeless Asian youngsters but it is a substantial minority," she said.

Funding would also be needed to finance a worker to spend time in the community working with young people and others to help develop the project.

The proposal has won backing from Zafar Ali, of Keighley Racial Equality Council, who believes the future would see a steady increase in the number of youngsters declaring themselves homeless.

He said: "Our youngsters are experiencing a conflict of cultures and this project would be a way of resolving some of the problems."

But Khadim Hussain of Keighley Sangat Centre said he feared that setting up special units for homeless ethnic minority youngsters would encourage others to leave home.

It was a sensitive issue and there needed to be more information before the project went ahead, he said.

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