AN award-winning Young Leaders scheme is to be used as part of a blueprint for similar programmes across the country.

The Blackburn with Darwen School Sports Partnership was highly commended for its Sports Hall athletics course for Key Stage One and Key Stage Two pupils involving young leaders from secondary school.

And as a reward, they have been filmed by the Youth Sports Trust for a special dvd which will be released later this year.

Representatives from the Youth Sports Trust visited St Bedes High School where pupils from infant and junior schools across the borough took part in a Sports Hall Athletics competition.

The School Sports Partnership held two sessions with infant school pupils from Ashleigh, St Luke and St Philips and St Peter's RC competing in the morning and junior school pupils from Ashleigh and St Peters RC as well as Shadsworth and St S Stephen's taking part in an afternoon session.

Two Young Leaders from eight secondary school also took part in the event.

As well as be filmed overseeing the event, Young Leaders Michael Clarkson from Darwen Vale and Katherine Whittaker from Blakewater spoke on DVD along with Emily Williams who is one of the School Sports Partnerships young ambassador from St.Wilfrids.

Jo Bateson, school sports co-ordinator, said: "This is a great honour for us because it gives us the chance to show the rest of the county exactly what we do. The Young Leaders have worked very hard and it is nice for them to get this recognition.

"Now we just have to make sure we maintain the high standard we have set."