As Cooper, strategy co-ordinator at Sunderland Youth Development Group, outlined his vision of a voluntary sector initiative that would provide opportunities over the next 15 years, more than a few cheeks were puffed.
"I thought, 'yeah, right'," says Doxford teenager Mark McDowell. "As if that's going to happen." Cooper admits he encountered some sniggers.
"People said to me, 'welcome to the wasteland; that'll never work here'," he explains.
McDowell, 19, is now trustee and vice-chairman of The Box Youth Project, which has secured more than 170,000 of funding, achieved charitable status and won a prestigious local award.
The project's success is attributed to the unusually high level of control given to the beneficiaries. The Box Youth Project - named after the box-shaped homes of Doxford and the four nearby estates it covers - really is run by young people for young people. Its constitution states that 14- to 19-year-olds must hold at least five of the 15 positions on the management commitee. And no decision is made without them.
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