NEXT week, years of planning and hard work will be paying off as Glasgow finally embarks on our Commonwealth Games adventure.

Thousands will travel to Glasgow, from across Scotland and around the world, to watch the hundreds of events being held.

It'll be a big boost to our economy, with shops and tourism benefiting right across the city, and Scotland.

Athletes have been in training for years in anticipation of their make-or-break moments in Glasgow next week.

This has been a huge opportunity for our city and for Scotland. Thousands have been working on getting everything ready, with jobs and training places that leave a legacy for Glasgow. 2500 young people will have been provided with work experience via Games related projects.

More than 750 teachers have been trained to support disabled students in PE classes.

And there are a huge number of community projects receiving support via the Games, making change in their communities day in, day out.

A total of £5.5 million has come from the Big Lottery has gone to community groups to help people get active and healthy.

It is going to be Glasgow's 2012 moment - who could forget those brilliant weeks in London as the Olympics began, just two years ago?

The legacy of the Olympics in terms of regeneration and the boost to the economy has been significant and we can be equally optimistic about the impact that the Commonwealth Games will have in the years to come.

We must capitalise on these weeks, not only will our city have thousands of visitors but an international audience will be seeing Glasgow on their screens as they watch the coverage of the events.

Millions of people on every continent will be tuning in. The eyes of the world are on Glasgow, It's a chance to celebrate but also to advertise the best of our city.

The council and the organisers should be proud of their efforts in pulling all of this together, delivering on a project the scale of the games is no small feat.

The games are going to have a influence on Scotland's young people for years.

As our young people watch their sporting heroes compete and succeed it will be an endless source of inspiration.

THE legacy of these games will be the next generation of Scottish athletes who watched their sporting heroes compete in Glasgow this summer.

But that legacy also extends beyond sport, to the regeneration and community projects that have received extra funding thanks to the games.

And it includes the young people who started their apprenticeship or had their first job as part of the team making the games happen.

There is something very special about representing your country, and even if we are not an official part of the games, let's go out of our way to welcome everyone to our city. Let's do Glasgow and Scotland, proud.