BOLTON Wanderers and the BBC have teamed up to launch a new scheme to help young homeless people improve their chances of re-entering fulltime education.

The BBC's training & Development's skillXchange team and Wanderer's are working together with homeless people to improve their literacy and communications skills and gain the confidence to re-enter fulltime education.

The programme is being organised with the youth homeless charity The Foyer Federation, and a number of football league and Premiership clubs and Zurich Premiership rugby union clubs throughout England.

The Bolton Wanderers project kicked off on January 30, and will run for five weeks.

It follows two successful pilot projects in London with Queen's Park Rangers Football Club and London Wasps Rugby Union Club, which have been running since October.

Each project takes on three young homeless people and trains them in the art of sports reporting, and during the five-week programme they will visit their local BBC studios to see first hand how the BBC's professional journalists cover matches.

The young people will receive detailed training in interviewing techniques, researching and reporting. They will use digital recording equipment and will then test out their newfound skills by reporting on a major match and interviewing the players -- all with close guidance and support from a BBC mentor.

The participants will also have access to Bolton Wanderers football club and its training ground and receive advice on working in a major club.

Daniel Reuben, Communications Manager at Bolton Wanderers, said: "Sport, and football in particular, plays such an important role in many young people's lives. By using their enthusiasm for football to encourage them to learn new skills and build their confidence is a great idea.

"Bolton Wanderers is a major force in the town, and we are committed to putting something back into the community. This is one of the ways in which we can do this."

Kieron Tilley, partnership manager, skillXchange said: "This is not about teaching media studies, it's about providing essential skills in an accessible way, which could potentially transform the futures of some young people."