THE power of football is to be used to help young people in Plymouth improve their education and communication skills.

BT and the Football Foundation, the UK's largest sports charity, today announced they have signed up Argyle to a pioneering initiative designed to tackle the problem of low achievement among some youngsters in the city.

Communicating for Success (CfS) is a £1 million UK-wide programme using the positive influence of football to help tackle digital exclusion and improve communication skills across the UK.

The £50,000 first-year pilot project in Plymouth will particularly target young people struggling with traditional education, who would benefit from an alternative type of learning using football as the incentive.

With the help of Argyle and local BT volunteers, CfS aims to make the youngsters aware of the importance of digital literacy, healthy lifestyles and employability. Activities are designed to raise their levels of self-esteem and confidence.

A range of courses will be offered to schoolchildren aged up to 16, young people aged between 16 and 25 and older people aged over 55.

For the under 16s and 16 to 25-year-olds, the courses will include media communication skills, such as football match report writing, interviews, player profiles, filming and feature writing for media such as the club website, match programme and blogs.

There will also be one-week holiday courses for young carers and vulnerable children at the nearby Mount Batten Adventure Centre, including sailing and digital photography, which will aim to improve communication and collaboration.

And for older people aged over 55, there will be 'digital fitness' and 'digital communication' sessions aimed at improving their personal fitness and confidence with computers through new digital film and camera skills.

Michael Dunn, BT's West of England regional manager, who has been an Argyle supporter for almost 50 years, said: "BT is determined to tackle the scourge of IT illiteracy and help people of all ages and abilities prosper through confidence with communications, computers and the internet.

"The Football Foundation has worked with us to develop Communicating for Success, combining the attraction of our national game and other sports with learning, to help people develop skills in ways they have not experienced before. This partnership is a great complement to our 2012 Olympic sponsorship and we shall bring elements of the two together over the course of the programme to foster learning."

Paul Thorogood, chief executive of the Football Foundation, said: "Communicating for Success is a very exciting new partnership between the Football Foundation and BT. Not only will participants learn about sport, health and endurance, they will also develop vital communications skills in a more relaxed and enjoyable environment than the traditional, more formal academic setting."

Argyle manager Paul Sturrock said: "The power of football in Plymouth should not be underestimated. This project will go a long way to getting these young people involved in a positive activity and re-engage them in the education process. We look forward to seeing some of the successes that this project will undoubtedly achieve."

Councillor Grant Monahan, Plymouth City Council's Cabinet Member for children and young people, said: "We are very fortunate to be part of this scheme, which takes the passion children and young people feel for football and helps them to channel it towards their education.

"To link learning with something enjoyable and appealing to young people is a clever way of grabbing their attention and keeping it. If free kicks and corners add up to a better education, then I'm a definite fan."

Communicating for Success is part of a UK-wide programme into which BT is making an initial first-year investment of £500,000, which will be matched by the Football Foundation. In the first year, the CfS programme will work with a number of support centres across the country, including Plymouth, Doncaster, Sheffield, Ipswich, Glasgow, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Nottingham, Portsmouth, West Bromwich area of Birmingham and the London Borough of Newham.