REPUBLIC of Ireland stars Glenn Whelan and Jonathan Walters have given young footballers at local schools a further boost following their participation in the hugely-successful Co-operative Football Roadshow this season.
Whelan and Walters, who were selected in Ireland's squad for this summer's Euro 2012 Finals in Poland and Ukraine earlier this week, have handed out sets of equipment and team kits to lucky winners from three Primary Schools.
The pupils of Ash Green Primary School received sets of goals for their football activities when they visited the Clayton Wood Training Ground where midfielder Whelan was on hand to make the presentation to them.
And Walters, who received Stoke City's Community Champion Award at the End of Season Dinner on Tuesday evening, had visited two schools earlier that same day to hand over the sets of team kit, the John Baskeyfield VC Church of England Primary School in Burslem and the Dove Bank Primary School in nearby Kidsgrove.
The winners of the equipment and kit are among almost 150 local schools and 3,000 schoolchildren who have taken part in The Co-operative Football Roadshow offering fun-packed coaching sessions and activities for Year Two pupils.
The Roadshow is one of the community activities which received a further boost this week with the announcement that Britannia, which is part of The Co-operative Group, is to become the Club's Official Banking and Community Partner.
A key objective of that new partnership will be to expand upon the excellent work that is already being done with children and schools through the community programme.
