Arsenal stars Olivier Giroud and David Ospina visited children at a Holloway primary school last week.

Islington Gazette: The Arsenal Foundation St Mark's School 8/12/2014The Arsenal Foundation St Mark's School 8/12/2014 (Image: Alan Walter)

The stars were at St Mark’s C of E School in Sussex Way to see a state of the art football pitch refurbished by the Arsenal Foundation in 2013.

As well as being used by the children at the school the pitch is also used by Arsenal in the Community projects with boys and girls football sessions held there each week as well as hockey lessons, football coaching programmes and other educational programmes.

The Arsenal Foundation has helped to upgrade a total of 13 pitches across Islington, Camden and Hackney since 2008, with the Arsenal in the Community team now running sessions across each site.

Giroud and Ospina’s visit came just days ahead of yesterday’s game against Newcastle United, which saw players donate a day’s wages to the Arsenal Foundation in the club’s annual charity matchday.

Islington Gazette: The Arsenal Foundation St Mark's School 8/12/2014The Arsenal Foundation St Mark's School 8/12/2014 (Image: Alan Walter)

“We are proud to take part in this kind of project and to support the Arsenal Foundation,” said Giroud.

“We can see that the Foundation has helped to provide these children with a fantastic new pitch, where they will have the opportunity to play football, try different sports and enjoy their time with their friends. That is a very special thing.”