WHEN Britain's largest ever multi-sport event, the Commonwealth Games, comes to a close on August 4, 2002, the area will be left with impressive stadia and state-of-the-art venues.

Thousands of athletes will have come and gone and thousands more spectators will have enjoyed the thrills and spills of the huge 10-day event. But organisers are keen to stress another legacy for the region. From the outset, Games chiefs said they wanted to make a difference to people's lives.

One of the schemes they created was the Pre-Volunteer Programme which aims to assist individuals from disadvantaged communities. About 70 of those who have enrolled on the scheme have come from Bolton.

Today reporter David Crookes looks at the what the programme had to offer and features two people who say they have benefited from it. THE Sydney Olympics of 2000 was critically acclaimed as the best Games ever held.

Much praise was heaped on the volunteers who directed people to the stunning venues, drove athletes around the city and gave information to lost visitors.

They were seen as the backbone of the event, each one unpaid but enthusiastically promoting their city to the world.

It is a model which Commonwealth Games chiefs hope to emulate. Thousands of people have already registered to become a volunteer and they are currently undergoing training.

But organisers said they were also keen to set up a Pre-Volunteer Programme (PVP) to boost skills among those people in the North-west who may otherwise have been deterred from volunteering.

In Bolton, it has been put together by the Council's Education and Culture department with training modules provided by Bolton College.

Students enrolled on the course are encouraged to develop skills and confidence which they will put to use next summer.

They will provide visitor information, steward at sporting events, become car park attendants and carry out warehouse duties.

But Games chiefs say the skills they learn will help them find long-term employment.

Sarah Swettenham, the PVP co-ordinator for Bolton, said: "Fundamentally we are developing social skills which transfer well to any job.

"The Games will be huge and people are keen to become involved. The PVP allows us to extend that to as wide a population as possible.

"We even have graduations to mark a person's development and personal achievement."

The volunteers have worked on a number of local projects during the course of the programme.

They include the Working Woodlands Festival, the Lawn Tennis Association's National Championships, the opening of Bolton Arena and the Christmas lights switch on.

Volunteers have completed courses in customer care, crowd control, health and safety, first aid, sports development and event organising.

So far, 62 students have completed the course. A further 16 are booked on the next one, to run in the New Year.

Cllr John Byrne, executive member for Culture, said: "The volunteers have spend hundreds of hours of various projects in Bolton and are doing a wonderful job.

"It's because of people like them that the 2002 Commonwealth Games and in particular those events being held in Bolton will run smoothly and safely.

Part of the PVP is the Steps to Health initiative which is training local women to become qualified exercise instructors as well as establishing a programme of community exercise sessions for Asian women across Bolton. People on the course are hoping to become aerobics instructors, swim teachers or walks leaders.

Volunteers recently had a Christmas party at the Town Hall where they were presented with certificates from Bolton mayor Cllr Kevan Helsby MBE. What the scheme has meant to two local people CASE STUDY 1 Steven Yates, aged 23, from Breightmet STEVEN had hoped to pursue a career in caring for the elderly but ill-health meant he had to abandon his hopes. He suffers blackouts and bad asthma which means he cannot work. But he was determined not to sit at home and enrolled on the Pre-Volunteer Programme. He said: "It has given me a lot of confidence and enables me to get out and meet people. I've been involved in many projects in Bolton but the Commonwealth Games is undoubtedly the one I'm looking forward to the most.

Steven plays the keyboard and organ and regularly entertains people in nursing homes. He is hoping to become a steward next summer. He currently helps out at the Commonwealth Games office in Bolton. where he has worked since September, receiving nothing more than travel expenses.

But he said the skills he had picked up has changed his life. "It's given me a lot of drive," he said. "I've made a lot of friends and transformed my social life."

CASE STUDY 2

Kailash Gandhi, from Deane. SINCE completing the course in July, Kailash has become an unemployed casual worker for Bolton Council.

She plans to become an aerobics instructor and has been referred to the Steps to Health programme.

Kailash speaks five languages -- English, Gujarati, Hindu, Italian and Dutch -- and she believes they will come in handy when dealing with international visitors next year.

She said: "The PVP course has made me look at myself and has encouraged me to bring out my strengths and skills.

"It equips you with transferable job skills, taking away any reservations about dealing with people."

Kailash, who is disabled, worked on the Bolton Show.