THE caring face of football is coming to south-east London courtesy of a £144,000 grant from the UK's biggest sports charity.

The Football Foundation has donated the money to the Greenwich Youth Inclusion Project, based near Eltham's Page Estate, which gives deprived youngsters the chance to get off the streets and onto the football field.

Charlton Athletic are already involved with the scheme in a coaching capacity, whilst in the classroom the students receive literacy, numeracy and computer tuition, courtesy of the project's skilled workers.

Working alongside Greenwich Council, social services and police, the project, run by national charity Crime Concern, seeks to identify the local youngsters deemed to be most at risk, and persuade them to turn their lives around.

The football coaching plays a key role in this, as it encourages the youngsters to interact socially and establish a rapport, both amongst themselves and their senior coaches.

They are then able to take this sense of achievement and self-esteem out with them into the wider world when they leave the project.

Similar schemes elsewhere have proved successful in the past, as project manager Trevor Brown explained to me.

He said: "Our experience has shown that football initiatives like this work. In recent years we have achieved a 64 per cent reduction in re-offending rates, and I'm sure the young people of Greenwich will respond just as positively."

Football Foundation chief executive Peter Lee also welcomed the charity's latest initiative.

He said: "Sport has a proven record in engaging with many of the most difficult-to-reach groups in society, offering them the chance to engage in various activities, as well as improving their lifestyles and development skills."

Funded by the Premier League, the FA, Sport England and the Government, the Football Foundation is dedicated to revitalising the grass roots of the game, building modern facilities and developing football as a force for good.

Over the past three years, the Foundation has provided funding for 50 projects across the capital, worth more than £20m.

These include a £1m grant to refurbish the clubhouse, changing rooms and pitches at Kidbrooke-based Long Lane FC, and more recently a £750,000 sum was also made available to Crayford Arrows to renovate their facilities.