On Tuesday last week, Emile Smith Rowe paid a visit to The Arsenal Hub to surprise not one, but two groups of youngsters who were participating in their weekly sessions.
The first group of 11–14-year-olds were taking part in their weekly homework club, which is part of our Care Experienced Young People programme. The joint initiative is run in partnership between the club, Islington Council and Emile’s dad’s, Community Interest Company ACED, where Emile is an ambassador.
The Care Experienced Young People programme is aligned with our key priorities to support young people across the borough and neighbouring areas, with the sessions split between the classroom, where the participants complete their homework, and The Hub’s indoor pitch, where they can enjoy a friendly match with their peers.
Emile then stayed on to surprise our pre-academy members, a group of 6–7-year-olds who use the indoor pitch for their weekly training sessions.
Speaking on the night, Emile said: “Supporting your local community is important and it was a real pleasure to come down to The Arsenal Hub and connect with the kids to see what they are up to. I’ve always been very proud of the work The ACED Project have done and it’s great to get a chance to combine my work for the organisation with the great work being done in our club’s community programmes.”
Freddie Hudson, Head of Arsenal in the Community, went on to say: “It was great to see Emile down at The Hub – our participants were so happy to spend some time with one of their heroes. He’s such a fantastic role model and having him pay a visit made their day!”
Find out more about the work that Arsenal In The Community does here.
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