A PROJECT aimed at demonstrating how sport and the arts can combine to promote healthy living will start next week.

Children from schools in Redcar, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Darlington will take part in Soccer Samba, a week-long summer school that integrates football with music and movement.

During the week, 120 youngsters aged nine to 14 will attend sessions at Middlesbrough Football Club's academy in Eston, where they will be taught football skills by qualified coaches.

Professional artists will also show them how to play Brazilian percussion instruments and how to dance to samba music.

The training, which builds on sessions already held in schools, will culminate in an unusual performance combining football, music and movement, on the pitch at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium on August 20.

Carol Alevroyianni, of Creative Partnerships Tees Valley, said: "Football and percussion are both very physical activities and as well as encouraging the children to become more creative in their learning, Soccer Samba will also do a lot to promote healthy living."

Soccer Samba will feature One Voice Music, an arts organisation that promotes Afro Brazilian and Afro Cuban music.