FOOTBALL stars of the future showed that they cared about their local community by completing a decorating challenge to help a charity for the homeless.

Fourteen teenage hopefuls from Blackburn Rovers Academy went head to head in a seven-a-side contest which was held to transform two flats at Woodvale, Darwen.

The 16-flat complex is used by charity Nightsafe to house young homeless people.

The two teams were assigned a flat each, and armed with paintbrushes and a steely determination to win, they kicked off the challenge to fully repaint four rooms and hallway within six hours.

The challenge was set up by Wendy Hobson, employee involvement manager of Community and Business Partners (formerly Blackburn Partnership), which provides a link between businesses and the local community.

"We wanted to put on a challenge that would prove beneficial to both the boys at the Academy and Nightsafe," said Wendy. "This was an ideal project, as only three per cent of the boys who attend the Academy will succeed to become Premiership football players and the other 97 per cent will be left to find another career path.

"This will help them see the other side of life and help keep their feet firmly on the ground."

The project was overseen by Rick Leighton, head of education at the Academy, and Simon Donnelly, team leader at Nightsafe Woodvale.

Mr Leighton, who is also goalkeeper coach for the Under-18s, said: "This has provided a valuable insight for the boys. While they all come from different backgrounds, very few have come across situations like this. When we arrived, a lot of them said they'd never seen anything like the flats before.

"Living at the Academy is really quite a sheltered life, far away from any deprivation, so it's good to see the other side."

The project will also go towards the NVQ, which is part of the young players' education programme.

He added that the challenge was enthusiastically embraced by the lads - who are all 16 and 17 - and a great success, despite some early doubts.

"We picked two "captains", Michael O'Connor and Kris Paterson and they chose their own teams."

Michael, 17, said: "We started off a bit dodgy, not working together properly, but then we sorted it out and it went well. We're all good friends anyway which helps."

Rival leader Kris, 17, added: "It's been a good way to build on team spirit, and of course there's a healthy sense of competition - we'll definitely win!"

He was proved right, when Simon Donnelly judged his team to be the victors.