A £200,000 programme to get youngsters' lives on track is due to be announced tomorrow, reinforcing Wrexham FC's commitment to the community.

The "Football" Cares project, designed to target children at risk of offending or young offenders themselves, combines initiatives to improve literacy and numeracy, together with diet and substance abuse workshops.

Working closely with teaching staff and council dietary advisers, North Wales Police Community Beat Officers and the youth offending team, Wrexham FC will provide a real focus for disaffected and troubled children who can benefit from a structured and integrated approach to their welfare.

Wrexham FC's Football in the Community manager, Tony Thomas, has spent years working with young people and has been consistently surprised by the impact the club has had on them.

He said: "A lot of these kids are in circumstances not of their own making and often have little or no structure to their lives.

"Coming here and being a part of the team, however small, gives them a focus and direction which they've never found before.

Empathy

"It isn't all about being on the pitch and training either: there's a lot of classroom work which is valuable to the boys and the girls too. Some of the empathy sessions allow them to begin thinking about how their behaviour impacts on others for the first time."

The programme has been funded by the Football Foundation, which has donated £138,000.

Alistair Bennett, of the Football Foundation, said: "The Wrexham AFC FiTC programme is tackling youth crime and disorder and supporting young people in our society who all too often find themselves excluded from local community activities.

"Football has a unique, and proven, ability to help address this issue and this programme will provide real opportunities for exactly those kind of young people, under the guidance of committed individuals from Wrexham FITC.

"The Football Foundation is pleased to support them."

A spokesman for PACT, the Police and Community Trust, which has also made a substantial donation, said members were delighted to support Football Cares.

"Sport is a valuable part of our daily lives, and it is marvellous to see the work that Tony Thomas, Mark Morris and the team at Wrexham Football in the Community continue to do with young people from Wrexham and Flintshire.

"This initiative is a great example of what sport can do to provide educational and healthy lifestyle activities for young people at risk of offending, and improve behaviour through the role model status provided by Tony and his team."

The project will be officially launched at The Racecourse tomorrow.