Developed for disadvantaged young people aged 13-17, the card will be launched on 1st April 2008 and will run as a pilot for one year to offer up to 2,000 young people in Cambridgeshire access to activities that previously may have been out of their reach. Each card will be pre-loaded by Cambridgeshire County Council with £40 a month for the cardholder to spend on positive activities such as sports, music, arts and drama.

"We are delighted to be launching the g2g Card, a pre-paid Maestro debit card that can help disadvantaged young people try different activities without being held back by the cost", confirmed Simon Bates, Project Manager at Cambridgeshire County Council. "The pilot scheme aims to test whether funding activities that boost a young person's confidence and esteem outside the school gate, will, in turn, help to build confidence and esteem inside the classroom."

Card issuer, Raphaels Bank has worked in partnership with Altair Financial Services to create a chip and PIN card that will only work with pre-approved merchant categories, so that the funds can only be spent on a wide range of council-approved activities. A micro site has been set up to promote the scheme at g2gcard.co.uk and a dedicated website has been set up for cardholders at purplepigeon.net/g2gcard, providing information on how to use it and find activities.

"We are tremendously excited about being involved in this project", confirmed Mike Smith, Director, Raphaels Bank. "The g2g Card will give young people their first debit card, teaching them how to deal with money in a safe way, while enabling them to take part in activities they may not have been able to afford previously. We have worked with Altair Financial Services to ensure the card is secure and can only be used for the range of activities selected by Cambridgeshire County Council.

"We will be monitoring very closely how the pilot proceeds over the coming year and look forward to working with other local aut authoriities in the future, once this scheme has been proven."

Lee Britton, CEO at Altair added, "We are delighted to deliver such an innovative card programme to Cambridgeshire County Council. This project uses our technology to improve the ability of young people in Cambridgeshire to take part in out of school activities in a positive way. This is the first Government department to issue a prepaid card programme in the UK. Similar prepaid card programmes in the USA have experienced significant success at replacing cash in the government and public sector - and we look forward to the pilot being incredibly successful.

"There are two areas in government where we see prepaid cards having a significant impact. These include cards to distribute payments to beneficiaries and cards to efficiently manage internal expenditure, such as travel and expenses. Prepaid cards can improve efficiency, reduce costs and enhance the transparency of the payment process."

Research has proven that those who take part in these kind of positive activities stand an improved chance of doing better at school as well as being more likely to contribute to the community and less likely to be involved with anti-social behaviour. However, there is a range of barriers that stop about 25% of youngsters taking part in activities, ranging from transport problems to lack of finance. With the g2g Card scheme Cambridgeshire County Council wants to see if the finance barrier can be addressed.

The g2g Card, which is being funded by the Government, will be available to 2,000 pre-selected young people from Cambridgeshire who receive free school meals or are in local authority care. Cardholders will have £40 loaded onto their card every month, allowing them to pay for activities at a list of registered providers. They will not, however, be able to use the card to withdraw cash. Every card issued will come with a PIN to protect the system from fraud and unspent money will be carried over to the next month, allowing individuals to save up funds if they wish.

Cambridgeshire is only one of nine local authorities taking part in the government pilot to use a prepaid card with either Visa or MasterCard. Cambridgeshire has mapped its scheme closely to the original concept of the Youth Matters green paper.