This page requires Flash Player version 10.0.2 or higher.
Arsenal defender visits a club community project and talks of his hopes to repay Arsene Wenger's faith
TAGS:
Arsenal, Kieran Gibbs
Arsenal's Kieran Gibbs visited the Rowley Way Estate in Camden this month to see for himself a state-of-the-art venue made possible with the help of a grant from the club's Foundation.
The 23-year-old dropped in to see the floodlit 3G astroturfed site, which hosts Kickz initiative sessions twice a week and will enable local youngsters to play football all year. Gibbs was also able to meet some of the young people who will be using the pitch.
The estate had an old concrete facility but the Foundation's donation, together with the Camden District Management Committee, Tenants and Residents Association, South Hampstead and Kilburn Community Partnership (SHAK) and National Grid meant the site could be developed.
"It's great to come down to projects like this and see the impact that The Arsenal Foundation is having in the local community," Gibbs told the club's website.
Last December, Gibbs and the rest of the Gunners first-team squad donated a day's wages to the Arsenal Foundation, the club's grant-giving charity, which provides support for a range of education and sport projects in the UK and overseas.
"We were all more than happy to give a day's wages so it's nice to be able to see where that money is going and meet some of the kids that will use the facility," Gibbs said. "The new pitch here is absolutely fantastic."
The Arsenal Foundation has also announced the launch of The Gunners Fund - a charitable commitment of £50,000 per year that will be used to offer a number of smaller grants to projects and good causes in the local boroughs of Islington, Camden and Hackney.
"Arsenal in the Community has been working in the local area for more than a quarter of a century and while we've been able to make a big impact during that time, there's always more projects and good causes that need support," said Arsenal in the Community head Alan Sefton.
"The Gunners Fund will enable us to increase our commitment towards the community and provide even more worthy initiatives in local boroughs with the assistance that they need."
To find out more about the Gunners Fund, click here.
