St Ives Town Council has appointed two new Youth Engagement Project Officers.

Laura Peach and Rosana Cox will be working with the St Ives Town Deal funded projects to ensure young people are more involved and benefit from the projects.

The aim is to increase activities and opportunities for children and young people and build a long-term legacy from the Town Deal investment for the parish.

As well as the main Town Deal projects, they will also coordinate and plan wider youth activities and engagement across the parish.

Ms Peach and Ms Cox's appointments are funded by St Ives Town Deal to ensure young people have access to the wider regeneration projects taking place across the town.

Ms Peach, with experience in working with young individuals within and outside the educational environment for more than 15 years, has spent eight years in local secondary schools teaching design technology and arts.

She has also been actively involved in pastoral care with the youth and their families.

Past years have seen her inclining towards conducting workshops for youngsters to develop confidence in artistic skills and local event participation.

She said: "I'm excited to begin working with St Ives Town council and the Town deal projects to create an environment to enable the young people of St Ives to engage with the projects and find opportunities to flourish and grow."

Ms Cox has a background in education, teaching in secondary schools and adult education colleges across a range of humanities and social science subjects, developing courses, and supporting young people gain new skills and find their voice.

She said: “I’m looking forward to putting my enthusiasm towards engaging young people in activities, helping them to develop and grow, and cultivating meaningful, mutual relationships between them and their local area.

“We are both really excited to be sharing this role and the opportunities that will be created to engage, encourage and empower the young people in the St Ives community and the parish.”

Councillor Kirsty Arthur, chair of the Facilities Committee, said: “Now, with thanks to Town Deal funding, we are able to deliver on that pledge as we welcome two highly experienced, and respected youth officers to the team who are committed to improving support for our parish’s young people.”