The Manchester City footballer, Raheem Sterling, launched "The Raheem Sterling Foundation" at his former school, Ark Elvin Academy in Brent, north-west London.

Sterling grew up in Brent and has played for Manchester City since 2015. He also has family ties to Jamaica. The foundation aims to "educate, empower and inspire young people" in three cities: Manchester, London, and Kingston in Jamaica.

The foundation will focus on its aim "to champion greater social mobility, further education, empowerment, and to facilitate young people despite the challenges they may face in achieving their full potential."

Sterling said: "My journey to date has been well documented but nothing would have been achievable without belief, family, great mentors, and the opportunities I have embraced. My foundation is built on my experiences, successes and the many challenges I overcame, I now want to help young people achieve and be the best they can be."

Surrounded by current pupils at Ark Elvin Academy, he unveiled a sign for the foundation which explains the aims to "educate, empower, inspire and ignite" young people today. The pupils and Sterling also completed a 1-mile walk from the school to the unveiled Olympic Steps that lead to Wembley Stadium. They proceeded to take photographs outside of Wembley Stadium.

Rebecca Curtis, Principal at Ark Elvin Academy, said: "Raheem is such an inspirational role model to our community in Brent and especially our children at Ark Elvin Academy. What he stands for on and off the pitch helps our children see that high expectations and hard work wins. The launch of the Foundation is an exciting opportunity for our children to learn from Raheem directly and see what can be achieved despite the challenges that he faced. Our motto at Ark Elvin is 'Dare for Greatness' and Raheem's work helps us do just that!"