HE'S WORKED with street gangs in South Africa and in no-go areas in Middlesbrough but helping youngsters has never been any trouble for Steve Chalmers.

The 36-year-old has seen kids struggling to deal with hard lives and tough situations, with some believing there was no way out and trying to take their own lives.

Steve explained: "My wife, Hannah, and I have been doing community youth work for 15 years.

"I used to work with street gangs in South Africa, next to the beach at Durban. I did a gap year and part of it was a three-week trip to Aids orphanages. I talked to the pastor, that led to working with the gangs, and he asked if I fancied coming back.

"But I missed Hannah too much!"

He added: "Back here I've worked with teenage dads and as a drugs and alcohol worker.

"We then started a youth work charity in a housing estate in Middlesbrough that was so violent, the council wasn't allowed to send their workers there.

"We did that for seven years. Why did we do it? Because no-one else would do it.

"It had its moments, one weekend there were three girls who overdosed, trying to take their own lives, but a lot of it is down to reputation.

"There are tough places here too."

The family, Steve and Hannah have four kids, came to Dunfermline four years ago and Heart and Sound was formed two years later.

He said: "There are 5,000 kids that go to high school here, there could be 10 youth charities here and it still wouldn't be enough.

"People think there aren't many issues in Dunfermline but there's a lot of hidden harm.

"I saw lots of young people here with gig bags on their backs and if you're going to try and reach young people, music is a good way to do it."

The charity is now providing plenty of interesting volunteering opportunities, with a professional recording studio at their Pilmuir Street base, and he added: "I love music anyway.

"My two brothers used to play drums and bass and I used to play guitar and sing, so some of the equipment we've got here I've had since I was 16!

"There are two of us working full-time at Heart and Sound, me and Ross Caldwell, and we know there's a really good music scene in Dunfermline with lots of good singer-songwriters.

"We've worked with Amy Louise Rodgers who wrote a song in two days about Kezia Dugdale and then it was in the Daily Record and Kezia was singing it!"

Steve continued: "We started out in New Row with lottery money for 40 one-off sessions but it grew so fast that we were advised to apply for more funding, which was duly forthcoming.

"It sounds a bit morbid but we're mainly funded by cash reclaimed from dormant bank accounts, money left when people have died.

"It's called the Young Start scheme and it's administered by the Big Lottery Fund.

"We received £50,000 last year and £50,000 this year and it's gone from strength to strength."