Tottenham Hotspur footballer Victor Wanyama took part in a sports session with young people in Stonebridge yesterday as part of his club’s commitment to the Brent community.
The defensive midfielder was joined by his club’s ambassador Ossie Ardiles at Bridge Park Community Centre in Harrow Road, where they joined coaches giving sporting lessons in a project run by Brent Council.
The coaches were provided by the club’s charity Tottenham Hotspur Foundation (THF) to engage with younger residents in Brent following a decision to play its Champions League home matches at Wembley Stadium this season.
It was the first time Mr Wanyama, who also plays for the Kenyan national team, experienced THF’s work since joining from Southampton during the summer.
He said: “Spurs is a club that does so much when it comes to community work and it is important to us that we make local people around Wembley feel involved with the club when we are playing our home matches here.
“We will aim to make Wembley our home and it will be a great opportunity for the people of Brent to come and see Champions League football.
“It’s something all the players are looking forward to and we believe we can go a long way in the competition.”
Mr Ardiles, added: “Given that the borough of Brent is becoming our temporary home, it is important for us as a club to engage with the local community here as we do in Tottenham.
“We aim to work closely with the FA and Brent Council to deliver life-changing opportunities to the people of Brent through our award-winning foundation as we have done successfully over the past 10 years at home in Haringey.”
The club also has the option of playing all its home games at Wembley during the construction of its new stadium in Tottenham during 2017/2018.
Residents in Brent will also have the chance to enter competitions to win tickets to see Spurs play at Wembley in its first Champions League campaign since 2010/2011.
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