YOUNGSTERS say they are more aware of the plight of Swindon’s homeless.

It follows a week-long holiday scheme that has seen them interview council bosses and hostel managers across the town.

Children taking part in the latest Platform Project scheme, which pairs youngsters with mentors to complete Apprentice-style challenges, said that the experience had left them convinced that you “shouldn’t just walk away” from Swindon’s homeless.

The number of rough sleepers in Swindon’s town centre has risen by 60 per cent in a single year, with an estimated 45 people taking to the town’s streets this winter.

Half a dozen youngsters enrolled on the project spent the week interviewing those involved in supporting homeless people across Swindon. Videos of the interviews will be posted online and shared at a Big Breakfast event next month.

Budding photographer Phoebe Bowers, 14, said: “I’ve learned that you shouldn’t just walk away from a homeless person, but you also should just give money either.”

She added that she had found it harder to edit film that to operate the camera. And the budding Jeremy Paxman had grilled charity chiefs – asking one to explain homelessness in just seven words. “He said he didn’t really know,” Phoebe said. “He couldn’t do it.”

Goncalo Silva, 11, from Ferndale, also enjoyed interviewing people for his film: “It was exciting. I’d never done an interview before in my life.”

Previous Platform Project schemes have seen young people paired with business mentors to plan a family music festival and create business plans for a gift business.

But cash from the Wiltshire Community Fund enabled the focus on homelessness, said Platform Project founder Sadie Sharp.

The Old Town business consultant said of the fund: “Their objective is to try and get more people taking social action.”

Youngsters from the course will spend upcoming weekends planning how they can make a longer-term difference for Swindon’s rough sleepers. They are hoping to use charity cash to buy a number of “lockers” where those sleeping rough can stash their belongings.