Former Brentford winger Ryan Peters is helping young footballers gain a mainstream education as well as learn the game – and with your vote, the project could get a cash windfall.

Peters made just shy of 50 appearances for the Bees, scoring two goals, before drifting into non-league football, currently plying his trade for National League South leaders Maidenhead United.

Together with former Wycombe, Millwall and Barnet defender Danny Senda, he is working on Brentford FC Community Sports Trust's Post-16 BTEC Football Education Programme, in partnership with West Thames College.

Education: The project in action

The programme offers young adults the opportunity to not only develop within a professional sporting environment, but also to gain a qualification that provides the opportunity for a career in sport, as well as UCAS points to earn a university place.

The participant’s day is split between professional football coaching and classroom based learning, covering areas such as sports nutrition, anatomy, physiology, promotion and sponsorship.

It has been entered by the Trust into the Aviva Community Fund – and it needs your support in the public vote stage.

Eyes on the prize: A young talent

The potential funding would be used to enrol the students on an additional course to become FA Level 1 Football Coaches, giving them the opportunity to begin grass-roots coaching in their local communities.

Trust chief executive Lee Doyle said: “The BTEC programme is an investment in our young people. We are offering the students an opportunity to develop their education in their passion for sport.

“The impact on the community is immediate by offering the people who complete the course an alternative education and sporting pathway. Longer-term, it will offer the participants a chance to become role models for the younger people that they coach in their communities.”

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To find out more about the project and to add your support, vote for Brentford FC Community Sports Trust at: https://community-fund.aviva.co.uk/voting/project/view/16-3818