Eloise Upton is an articulate, lively and gregarious 17-year-old.

She has a job lined up and a positive future ahead of her - but she hasn't always felt so confident.

Eloise, from Whitehawk, feels she was let down by her teachers at Marina High School, now East Brighton College of Media Arts.

She says they didn't recognise her dyslexia until she was about to sit her GCSEs. When her poor exam results reflected this, she felt she was never going to achieve much in life.

Eloise is not the sort of person to talk about "life- changing experiences". But her life has changed since she started on the New Steps scheme.

She says: "When I finished school two years ago, I didn't know what I wanted to do. If I had gone to a better school, I would have learned more. I really needed someone to recognise what I could do.

"Now, when I need help, they know how to teach me. At school, you never got any one-to-one attention, whereas here you do. You do computer training, job interview techniques, learn how to write proper letters.

"I've got a job as a chambermaid in the Albion Hotel when I leave. When I told them I was doing New Steps, they said that was brilliant. I'm sure that's why I got the job. It has definitely made a difference."

New Steps was pioneered in Brighton. The scheme has been such a success it is now due to be tried out in Glasgow and Plymouth.

New Steps takes on young people with all kinds of problems, from abusive backgrounds to under-achievement at school and homelesness to drug addiction, and gives them a chance to prove themselves.

Over the course of 20 weeks, groups of young people between the ages of 16 and 25 take on a number of challenges set by community groups and charities.

The youngsters can also choose their own challenges, picking an area of the community in which they would like to make a difference and deciding between themselves how they might go about it.

So far, the different groups have worked on challenges as diverse as a 20km sponsored walk for the Sussex Lupus Group, a book exchange for Big Issue vendors and a revamp of the Toybox creche, designing and making floor cushions and a wall-hanging for the play area.

The current group is planning to take a number of disabled people out for the day to Drusilla's Zoo. The trainees have also organised a sports day.

Task Force co-ordinator and administrator Zoe Jackman says New Steps makes all the difference to the young people who take part: "It highlights skills they never even knew they had.

"They have got no preconceptions and they are willing to accept new ideas. It is such a crucial stage in their lives."

Not all the young people speak in such idealistic terms. Anthony Buckman, 17, from Rottingdean, admits New Steps is a lot better than school.

But he says: "I wasn't all that worried about not having any qualifications anyway. I don't really care what I do. And I don't really think I have learnt anything since I have been here."

Senior task force leader Annie Murphy says she expects this kind of response.

She knows it is not possible to change behaviour and attititudes overnight. But she points out that 15 out of the 19 participants have found employment or further training since the scheme began in June 1999.

"For many of the young people, this is the first chance they have ever had to achieve something. Many of them are very disillusioned and don't think there's anything out there for them.

"Many have been in trouble and have started to believe all the negative things they have been told about themselves.

"We have to work on helping them feel they have some self-worth, that's the first step, and then that spurs them on to achieve greater things."

Annie's tactic is "sneaky learning". She says many of the young people who take part in New Steps had a bad experience of education, so the environment is deliberately tailored to be nothing like school.

Basic numeracy and literacy exercises, like letter-writing and budget plans, are incorporated into the challenges rather than taught as lessons.

According to Annie, this way of learning is very effective. "If they don't realise they are learning something, they learn far more quickly. Also, if people are enjoying themselves, they learn faster. They are much more motivated and they feel more confident."

Even those participants who pronounce themselves unchanged by New Steps will find it has made a difference to their lives, Annie promises.

Former New Steps trainee Tommy Smith agrees. Now working as a groundsman for Brighton College, Falmer-based Tommy says New Steps gave him the kick start he needed.

"It helped me get a good job and it taught me quite a few new things. I learnt problem-solving skills, how to get on with people and work in a team, interview techniques - lots of different things.

"I would definitely recommend New Steps. It has made a pretty big difference. I enjoy my job and I wouldn't have thought I could get a job I enjoyed so much. That's the main thing I've gained from it."