YOUTH work is in a man s blood – which is why he has donated £100 to a group for homeless young people. Dan Horne grew up with his parents running a youth centre. He has also worked part-time as a youth worker for over 10 years, hoping to work full-time i

YOUTH work is in a man's blood - which is why he has donated £100 to a group for homeless young people.

Dan Horne grew up with his parents running a youth centre. He has also worked part-time as a youth worker for over 10 years, hoping to work full-time in this area eventually.

So, when he decided to run the Luton marathon, he wanted to donate his sponsorship money to a charity close to home and chose the Herts Homeless Group in Hitchin.

Dan said: "I thought the point of the run was to raise money for a cause so I looked through the Yellow Pages and this one jumped out at me. It was also local, being based in Hitchin, so I phoned up and we had a chat."

The 31-year-old carpenter, from High Street, Baldock, said: "I heard about the marathon through a friend. It was a team marathon and three of us were involved."

The other members of the group were Tony Pinnock, 43, from Arlesey and Andrew Kirbyshire, 34, of Bassingbourn, near Royston.

Dan, who studied A-level PE at college, said: "I'm quite sports oriented anyway and youth work gave me that opportunity."

He spreads his time between three youth centres doing a range of activities including basketball, indoor football and table tennis.

He said: "Now I've the homeless group in mind I will also donate more money to the centre in future. The next one we are looking at doing is the run around Knebworth Park."

Herts Young Homeless Group gives advice and support to young people between 16 and 25 who are homeless or under threat of homelessness.

Anne Johnson, administration assistant for the group, said that Dan's money raised will help the young people they've housed.

She said: "At the moment we are going to put it in an emergency fund for youngsters we've helped find accommodation, but have no money, so no basic essentials."

When informed of the centre's idea for the money Dan said: "I'm pleased it's going to a worthy cause.