Central YMCA has recruited 20 young people aged between 16 and 25 from across London for its Youth.community scheme to help deliver Well London - an initiative designed to promote health and wellbeing in the capital.

The new ambassadors will help encourage others in their age group, living in 20 of the most disadvantage areas in London, to take part in the five-year programme. They will also advise Well London's seven partner organisations on how to reach young people and play a key role in helping them develop projects.

Each of the new recruits will be supported by a Youth.community mentor who will advise them on how to develop toolkits for the Well London projects, set and evaluate goals, organise meetings and develop timetables.

The young people will commit to spend 20 hours' each month with Well London's partners and will get the chance to gain qualifications delivered by YouthForce and accredited by the Open College Network.

Sheila Pryce, Central YMCA's Well London programme manager, said: "Young people often tell us they feel excluded from their communities because they are not given the chance to influence the way local services are developed.

"Our scheme aims to tackle this growing sense of isolation, by putting them at the heart of the decision-making process."

She added: "By providing meaningful incentives, we've shown that it is possible to fully engage with young people. The challenge now is for local authorities and other organisations to develop similar initiatives to tackle the marginalisation of children and young people."

The Well London scheme, which has received a grant of £9.46m from the Big lottery Fund, has already involved more than 1,800 young people, and aims to reach 2,400 by March 2010.