THE future is bright at Walshes Meadow as Stourport Swifts step up their bid to get the wider Wyre Forest community involved in the football club.

Despite a stuttering start to the season, Roy Rencher's first team squad are hoping to make their mark in the Southern Football League Division One Midlands.

And Vaughan Little is banking on bringing through the next generation of Swifts stars by blooding the under-18s in the Midlands Floodlit Youth League Southern Division.

Now club bosses are plotting to bridge the gap between school age youngsters and the under-18s by setting up youth teams in different age groups.

A Saturday morning soccer scheme has been going from strength to strength since its launch earlier this year.

Around 20 boys and girls aged from eight to 12 have been attending the weekly sessions which run from 10am to noon.

The scheme is currently overseen by coaches John Cawley and Nick Colley but there is scope to draft in more help if and when the demand increases.

Cawley said: "We spend half the sessions teaching them basic skills such as shooting, passing and control and half the section with small-sided games.

"The games give the kids the chance to put into practice what they have learned and to have a bit of fun."

A seven-a-side team is in the process of being set up for 10-12-year-olds to play friendlies for a season before entering a competitive league next year.

"The long-term aim is to establish a series of youth teams to feed the under-18s, which in turn will feed the first team," added Cawley.

"We also want to give the kids a bit of fun and coaching even if it comes to nothing because it will get them interested in football.

"And another aim is to open the club up to a wider audience so that kids and their parents feel a part of the place and are keen on helping out."

Off the pitch, plans to bring the club kicking and screaming into the 21st century are also taking shape.

A million pound project to completely revamp facilities at Walshes Meadow is already gathering pace and a new complex could be built at the ground by 2009.

Swifts chairman Chris Reynolds revealed the scheme will include a new clubhouse and function room, two artificial training pitches and new changing room facilities.

"I would like to think it's going to be a three-year plan, although the artificial pitches could be sooner," he said.

"At the end of the day the first team is the mainstay of the club but we need everything else in place at the club to make sure it's viable.

"We need to make Walshes Meadow a more attractive proposition to the general public.

"The more people that use our facilities, the more revenue we bring in and that will help to safeguard the future of the club."

Reynolds believes Swifts will need to raise around £1 million to get the ambitious scheme off the ground, with the National Lottery and the Football Foundation the most likely sources of funding.

Because the area has been designated a flood plain, Swifts are also bracing themselves for an ongoing battle for planning permission.