Representatives from Swindon Town Football Club joined sports stars in London yesterday to celebrate the success of a Government learning initiative.
The club has helped hundreds of local schoolchildren develop literacy, numeracy and IT skills through the Playing for Success programme, which links sports and schools to develop youngsters' interest in learning.
It operates a study centre with 30 networked computers which have been used by more than 1,000 students.
As well as catering for children from four primary and four secondary schools in the town, it also provides training for adults in the community in partnership with Swindon College.
There are 35 study centres at clubs across the country.
England and Tottenham star Sol Campbell, TV sports presenter Gabby Yorath
and Schools Standards Minister Jacqui Smith attended the celebration.
The minister said: "Football can be a powerful force for good. Playing for Success Centres can provide a real boost to literacy and numeracy standards which are the foundation stones of children's education."
Richard Scudamore, Chief Executive of the FA Premier League, said: "Early evaluation shows the impact on those young people who have attended has been extremely encouraging."
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