England women’s footballer Rachel Yankey presented a £2,000 cheque for sports equipment to students in Muswell Hill.

The Arsenal Ladies forward, England’s most capped female player, handed over the money, which was one of 19 grants from a scheme run by developers Balfour Beatty and Capital FM’s Help a Capital Child campaign.

The cash will be spent on developing sporting opportunities for disadvantaged young people in Haringey, particularly in sports including handball, table tennis and water sports.

Burk Gravis, head of the Haringey Youth Sport Development Trust, said: “The talent is there is Haringey, it’s just a case of channelling it.

“Our aim is to have 100 per cent representation in the London Youth Games and get every team in the top ten.

“Where we are weak, participation is low and those are the sports we are targeting. When we can raise it, we will have stronger teams.”