Hoodies were out in force in a shopping centre on Saturday.

Ashford was one of ten towns around the country where “goody hoodies” spent the day as part of a national campaign to challenge perceptions about young people, reminding others of the good work that many do.

The hoodies, 16-25 year old Agents4Change volunteers, handed shoppers at County Square fortune cookies containing messages about young people’s concerns, which they will now tackle through setting up projects and lobbying both local and national government.

One of the “goody hoodies”, Marco Kor, said he felt the 2005 ban on hoodies from Bluewater gave young people a bad press.

He said: “I can understand the reason behind it as there are reasons hoodies can be intimidating, but it stigmatises all young people wearing hoodies as being up to no good.

“What we’re trying to do though the Agents4 Change programme is show that young people are doing a lot of good throughout the country.”