Youth Action

Nine girls and boys, chosen by the football club, went to see a reserves game between local rivals Colchester United and Southend United at Layer Road.

The result was disappointing for the U's fans as Southend beat Colchester 3-1, but the youngsters wrote some nice descriptive reviews of the match. The challenge was to turn these into short reports for the radio without missing out any of the detail.

The fledgling sport journalists were given a tour of the studios at BBC Essex before having a go at writing their match summaries and then recording their final efforts in the news studio.

Presenter Sadie Nine, who was on air while the fans were at the studios, offered two of the youngsters the opportunity to read the weather report on her show.

Henry and David who are 13-years-old, took up the challenge. The boys said they were really nervous but were excited to have had the opportunity to broadcast live. 

You can hear their report here.

Learning the ropes in the studio

Sadie said:  "I was very impressed. The boys were very passionate which is the key to success in the tough media world."

The day was a partnership between the Colchester United Community Sports Trust and BBC Essex as part of the BBC's RaW campaign which aims to help adults and children across the UK to read and write better.

Jeanette East, Learning Centre Manager at the Trust said:  "Colchester United Community Sports Trust is about so much more than sport. Its work is about inspiring people, providing opportunities for communities and the individuals within them to change their lives if they want to.

"Our Education Department caters for adults and children - BBC RaW has enabled us to deliver a really fantastic opportunity for families to learn together."

The nine budding reporters, Abbey, David, Emma, Georgie, Henry, Hayley, Natalie, George and Ben, recorded their match summaries and you can hear their final versions here.