Winchester-based leisure group, Great British Holiday Parks, has raised nearly £1,400 to help disadvantaged youngsters.

Proceeds from the group's gala dinner, together with money collected from in-house fund-raising during the past year, all went to Southampton charity, Fairbridge Solent, which supports people aged between 13 and 25 living mainly in deprived urban areas.

Fairbridge outreach worker, Clair Jackson (29), development co-ordinator, Jake Moore (27), and 25-year-old Robert Johnson, who has benefited from the scheme since moving to Southampton three years ago, received the cheque at Great British Holiday Parks' Colden Common headquarters.

"Fairbridge is a brilliant charity; it really does so much for underprivileged youngsters who find themselves in difficulty and are often totally without hope," said Sue Jackson, payroll supervisor for the group, which is the UK's third largest park operator with 19 coastal holiday parks stretching from East Sussex to Ayrshire.

Based in 13 of the most disadvantaged urban areas in the country, the Fairbridge charity supports youngsters who are not in education, training or employment or who have been identified as being at risk of "dropping out".

They are referred by over 1,400 different organisations.

These young people often face a range of problems and may have been excluded from school, endured long-term unemployment, faced homelessness or become involved in criminal activity. Many are without the support of their family and on the margins of their local community.

The goal of Fairbridge is to give these youngsters the motivation, confidence and the skills they need to change their own lives.