INNOVATIVE community projects at two Bolton secondary schools have paid dividends -- with both set to receive awards worth thousands of pounds.

Mount St Joseph School, Farnworth, and Westhoughton High School are the only schools in the town to be named among 78 across the country to get the awards, organised by banking giant Barclays. The Barclays New Futures sponsorship scheme is the largest single-education sponsorship programme in the country.

This year more than £1m has been awarded to schools chosen for their student-led projects which not only aim to develop youngsters' skills, but benefit the community.

Mount St Joseph School will receive £5,000 and Westhoughton High will get £10,000.

This will be the second Barclays award handed to Mount St Joseph pupils so that they can continue a scheme in which some of the school's more vulnerable youngsters attend courses in self esteem.

Once completed, they return to train others in skills they have acquired before creating an on-line mentoring programme for 40 primary school pupils across the town.

Westhoughton High School pupils will use their £10,000 award, together with youngsters from Washacre Primary and St James Primary schools, to devise, plan and implement an education programme for encourage adults from the more deprived areas in the town to take up education.

Training is carried out with the voluntary organisation Diversity in Barrier Breaking Communication, and its Lifetime Skills Through Broadcasting course.

The scheme, run with help from members of Westhoughton Community Learning Group, will record the progress of the project through a video diary.

This will include interviews with the adults who volunteer to take part, on past learning experiences, attitudes to education and feelings towards the scheme and its objectives.

Barclays New Futures awards are run in collaboration with the Community Service Volunteers charity. Further details of the scheme, now in it ninth year, are on the website at: www.barclaysnewfutures.co.uk