BLACKBURN Rovers midfielder David Dunn is giving youngsters who could turn to a life of crime a chance though his new charity.

The Premiership star admits that he ‘wasn’t very academic’ at school and hopes to get teenagers excited about becoming successful and staying on the straight and narrow though sport.

David is committed to being hands-on with STREETS (Sports To Radically Encourage Everyone To Succeed) which he has set up with friend and business partner John Magee.

Mr Magee describes himself as a former gang member who has now turned his life around.

The pair have now kick-started the first round of their 26-week programme at the Energy Zone in Roman Road Community centre, Blackburn.

And they are currently in talks to roll it out in Mill Hill.

David, 31, said: “I want to put something back in the local community. The town has supported me for the last 15 years or so.

“I wasn’t very academic. I was bored in the classroom. It never really excited me and it was never something I really wanted to do.

“I went to a good school – St Augustine’s in Billington.

"I didn’t wag school or anything like that but I was exactly like some of the kids we want to help.

“Not all kids are great in a classroom setting . An hour in a classroom setting is boring for some kids and they don’t listen.”

David and John’s 26-week STREETS programme teaches children that actions have consequences.

The pair use sports such as ping-pong, netball and football and are working with Darwen Aldridge Community Academy, Blackburn College and training 2000 to get young people into employment or training.

It involves youngsters meeting on a regular basis to play sport at the centre.

David and John give the children help and guidance, and they are rewarded for good behaviour while they work towards a certificate.

Initially targeting children aged 11 to 19 in the Roman Road estate area of Blackburn, the pair hope to steer children away from everything from anti-social behaviour to drugs, violence and alcohol abuse.

They also hope to roll the programme out in schools.

David said: “We created a programme using sport because most children enjoy it and we back up what they learn in the classroom.

“This programme runs alongside school. If there is a small percentage of children that change and have not turned to drugs and alcohol then it is working.”

John, who now lives in Lower Darwen but grew up on the Roman Road estate, said he only turned his life around aged 22 when he was facing prison.

He said: “I am passionate about this community. We wanted to put something back and I wanted to put it back into the community I grew up in.”

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