Ross County Football Club's high profile community programme, aimed at enhancing the life and employability skills of both the young and unemployed, has been given a two-year financial boost, worth almost £650,000, by the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) network.

The financial assistance for Life Skills Through Sport (LSTS) comes following an extremely successful first year, which saw 22,513 benefiting from the wide range of programmes on offer - such as summer schools, the drugs awareness road show and adult education programmes.

The youth and community project was set up with the aim of using non-traditional learning environments - such as the football stadium - and young people's own interests in leisure activities as the stimulus to secure their participation in learning.

LSTS, a partnership between Ross and Cromarty Enterprise (RACE) and Ross County Football Club, has succeeded in developing the skills of thousands of young participants, but has also gone on to target older people, including the long-term unemployed.

Funding for the first year was granted in 2003, with a further two years approved in principle, subject to the organisation raising £100,000 of external funding and arranging an external evaluation to assess the future of the venture.

In the event, the organisation raised £120,000 and the evaluation, undertaken by independent research specialists EKOS, found "substantial progress", pointing to the fact that there were around 30 per cent more beneficiaries and three and a half times more community events delivered than proposed.

The organisation has been awarded £324,932 for each of the next two years - £224,932 from RACE and £100,000 from HIE.

Around 270 of the 22,513 beneficiaries were above school age and participated in specific initiatives such as the Employer Coalition 'Get a Goal' programme aimed at those who are furthest from the job market. This programme has a 100 per cent success rate in getting those who complete the course into employment.

Project manager, Neil Mackintosh, said: "We have had the most amazing year. LSTS has proved far more successful than we could ever have hoped for in its first 12 months.

"The response from the youngsters has been fantastic, and it is so rewarding to see disadvantaged young people develop and turn their lives around. 

"We have seen so many success stories. One young man hadn't left his home for three years and through his participation in the 'Get a Goal' course, he not only gained the confidence he needed to get out and about, but he is also now in full time employment. Cases like that make it all worthwhile, when we can help somebody make such a positive difference to their life.

"During this year's October school holidays we worked with more than 800 children in 10 days, and during some busy summer weeks we can come into contact with 2000 per week.

"We have 35 part-time coaches delivering our programmes all over the Highlands and Islands, and we are delighted that we have been able to make such a big impact already."

Organisations such as Jobcentre Plus and Northern Constabulary have said LSTS is an effective way of engaging with their traditionally hard-to-reach client groups, and have even dedicated staff resource to the project through secondments.

Gordon Cox, chief executive of RACE, said: "The LSTS programme is an innovative way of developing skills in anybody, but where it is particularly successful is in enticing young people who do not respond well to more conventional learning environments. Without LSTS there is a good chance these people would find themselves excluded from education, employment or training.

"Equipping young people for today's and tomorrow's jobs is a vital element of a successful economy. It is very encouraging to see the results of this project, and I do hope they can keep up this fantastic success rate."

Roy MacGregor, who stood down as chairman of Ross County Football Club last week, has worked closely with the organisers of the LSTS project. He paid tribute to the partnership between the Highlands and Islands Enterprise network and Ross County Football Club.

"I am extremely grateful for the support provided by the network to Ross County in my period as chairman, and I will take a close interest in the development of this relationship to ensure our partnership continues to flourish in the way that has been demonstrated through projects such as Life Skills Through Sport."