CHILDREN from over 60 schools took part in the launch of Wigan's Good Citizenship Award project.

Representatives from each of the borough's primary and secondary schools gathered at the JJB Stadium to collect the bronze awards, which will be kept at the schools and presented to deserving individuals throughout the year.

The partnership between Wigan's education authority and Liverpool John Moores University follows the success of similar projects in Merseyside and Rochdale and aims to encourage children of all ages to become involved in their local community.

Each school has a Lloyds TSB sponsored trophy engraved with the Tree of Life and the school's name, which they can choose to present as they see fit -- be it weekly, each term or just once to an overall winner at the end of the year.

Individuals will also be rewarded with a Good Citizenship certificate to keep in their Record of Achievement. Acts worthy of the award could be anything from visiting an elderly person or helping at a special needs school to raising money for charity or planting trees.

Lord David Alton director of citizenship at Liverpool John Moores encouraged children to join in the project by telling them to: "Think of yourselves as small stones, on your own you might not make a huge difference, but your actions do have significance and together you can create an avalanche."