A SOCIAL enterprise to help young people to into employment through sport has been launched.

Sport Works provides sports mentoring programmes for some of the most disruptive, disenfranchised and vulnerable young people.

Run by former elite athlete, Neil Cameron, and award winning football coach, Jamie Cairns, the company delivers the Government-backed Traineeships in Sport programme to help bridge the gap between education and apprenticeships.

Mr Cameron said: "We work with anyone who requires support for young people who may be on the wrong path and need to recalibrate. For them sport educational programmes are a fantastic way to engage, providing a level of focus that has perhaps been lost in the more traditional classroom setting.”

One teenager to benefit from the programme is Ashley Douglass, of Brotton, east Cleveland, who suffers from a mild form of Asperger's syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

He said: "Sometimes I find it hard to talk to new people and playing a sport helps me to open up and get involved.

“I’ve always loved playing football and basketball and it’s good to be able to learn other skills, like leading people and teamwork, doing something that I enjoy. The training was fun and even though we were learning things it wasn’t the same as sitting in a classroom all the time, it was very hands on which made me interested in what I was doing.

“Completing my qualification has given me hope that I can have a career in sports and inspired me to work harder in school. Once I’d been training with Sport Works for a while it was great to work with the younger kids and have them look up to you as a role model. I really liked being able to show them the things that I’ve learned and pass on the skills that we’d been talking about in training.

“Sport Works were really supportive and working with them has made it easier for me to interact with other people and I find it easier to talk to people I don’t know. They helped me to deal with my outbursts and turn them into something positive.”