Albrighton Goes Back To School To Meet Young Foxes Fan
- Marc Albrighton heads to Redlands Community Primary School in Sileby, Leicestershire
- The Foxes winger surprised six-year-old Oliver Bates, who entered a 'Back To School' competition
- Locally-based Junior Fox Members who spent more than £25 were entered into the draw
- LCFC Community Trust staff provided a science-based workshop to the children
- In coordination with Premier League Primary Stars, the Club aims to inspire local young people
The Foxes winger, now into his fifth season at King Power Stadium, headed to Redlands Community Primary School in Sileby - a short distance from where the Club's proposed state-of-the-art new training complex will be built.
On Friday morning, LCFC Community Trust staff delivered a space-themed lesson to a group of Year 2 pupils, including Oliver Bates, six, who entered a 'Back To School' competition earlier this year.
Oliver, a big City supporter and regular visitor to Filbert Way, was joined by his classmates in the assembly hall on what they believed would be a relatively normal afternoon - albeit one which included a visit from the Community Trust.
Back To School For Albrighton In Sileby
Marc Albrighton heads to Redlands Community Primary School in Sileby, Leicestershire to support the LCFC Community Trust's 'Send Filbert To Space' scheme.
However, as the children made paper rockets to fire into the air, Albrighton walked up to Oliver's table and offered to lend a hand and pass on tips to make it as a professional footballer.
The 28-year-old said: "It was great, he’s a really confident lad, we’ve just sat and made a rocket on his desk and he’s had a lot of fun launching the rocket as well.
"If you enter a competition a lot of the time you don’t win but the odd time that you do win and you get to do things like he has done today, it’s fantastic for him. I know from my time at school, all I wanted to do was play football.
"It was either schoolwork or football and I just focused on football but if you can blend the two together and use football as a way of getting education into the young children, especially the ages that they’re at now, it can only be positive.
"We do a lot in the community around different parts of Leicester but I know with the new training ground not far from here, obviously it’s nice to come into this community and see the people from around here and what Leicester means to them."
Redlands Community Primary School is a partner of the LCFC Community Trust and, as part of that working relationship, have weekly Premier League Primary Stars sessions delivered within the school.
Premier League Primary Stars aims to inspire children in a range of subjects including English, Maths, PE, Science and Life Skills. From October, meanwhile, the LCFC Community Trust will be offering a 10-week science intervention to schools which links space with football.
One of the key pillars behind the LCFC Community Trust's strategy to inspire positive change in the local region is to use football as a tool to motivate young people into making beneficial life choices.
Kieran Farkas, a Community Coach with the LCFC Community Trust, added: "We’re planning on delivering a science-based project to launch our Premier League Primary Stars.
"It’s going to be a new project, which is going to start in and around the city of Leicester and around the primary schools with events like today's with Marc.
"We like to encourage people who perhaps prefer sport to the educational side of things and we can use football as a motivational tool for them so we can use it as a guide for them in their future careers.
"Again, it’s a great legacy for the children and something for them to look forward to, which will be fantastic."
For more information about the LCFC Community Trust and its role within the Leicestershire region, please click HERE.