Tennis youngsters involved with the youth charity The Prince's Trust, visited the Wimbledon Championships to celebrate the end of a seven-week tennis course, initiated by the charity and sporting partners, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and Gosling International High Performance Centre.

The 14- to 16 year-olds, who are at risk of truanting or under-achievement, are part of the xl tennis programme which offers an introduction to the game of tennis through coaching sessions, access to educational materials in addition to sessions with High Performance Tennis Centre staff on nutrition and healthy lifestyles.

The initiative is designed to help improve attendance, self-esteem and social skills. The scheme also provided advice on associated future careers into the game and involved an introductory session at a school, nine two hour sessions at Gosling IHPC and a tennis festival to mark the end of the course.

Nick Smith, Head of Sport Development at The Prince's Trust commented on the scheme that has seen the lives of the participants change for the better, he said: "The xl scheme involves young people who are at risk of exclusion or who have been excluded from school and essentially that could be because of behavioural issues or them playing truant.

"The Prince's Trust have been working with sport since 1997 and we currently have partnerships with cricket, rugby, football and horse racing and we work with over 100 partners on this. What we're trying to do is get them back in to main school education and work towards a recognised accreditation for this.

"The great outcome that comes from The Prince's Trust working with sport is the skills that can be learned such as communication and teamwork, which are the same skills that young people need in real life after school.

"We run them through a series of coaching courses with Gosling and they've already taken part in the competition where they have demonstrated the skills that they have learnt over their course. Today is one of those experiences that they would never ordinarily get; it's an incredible opportunity for these kids."

A member of The Prince's Trust xl scheme, Louis Hogan from Watford, is the perfect example of what a participant can achieve in this scheme; going from a truant and undedicated teenager to a young adult with changed aspirations and a new found love for sport.

The 14-year-old commented: "I got involved in The Prince's Trust through my school, I wasn't doing very well and I was told it would be good to come here and get involved, and it has. The Princes Trust set up a course for seven weeks where we would get in to tennis and that was it. I had fun [playing tennis] and apparently I'm quite good, hopefully I will keep it up.

"I wouldn't have done this if I hadn't got involved [with The Prince's Trust) so I'm glad that I did. It's not really discipline but it is in a way as it's different to what I usually do, I didn't used to go to school a lot but now that I've come here, it's changed everything - the tennis keeps me active and I'm definitely going to keep it up."

Tim Loughton MP, Minister of Families and Children, was also at Wimbledon to meet the participants and was impressed by the scheme and understands the importance placed in sport for children.

He said: "I think that this is a brilliant scheme to get kids, who are otherwise quite disengaged, involved, learning new skills, learning team work and really pushing on in life. Sport is a great leveller and is a great way of engaging people from all backgrounds which is obviously what is happening. And if we can stop kids, who are on the edge of the tracks, then it's got to be a good imitative both from the Prince's Trust and the LTA."