Aberdeen FC is proud to be a thriving, community driven football club who aim to have a positive impact far beyond the 90 minutes on the pitch working alongside our partner charity, AFC Community Trust. 

We recognise our unique standing in the local community and appreciate the importance of giving something back as we actively engage with the local communities that support and sustain the club and AFC Community Trust.

Here is a small taster of the recent activity that various representatives of the football club and AFC Community Trust have undertaken this past while in our efforts to interact with our local community.

AFC Heritage Trust Armistice Commemoration

Aberdeen FC joined together with the rest of the country to mark Remembrance Day with special attention being paid to all the millions who suffered through the Great War. The Armistice Commemoration is the sixth such event organised by the AFC Heritage Trust.
 
Between 1914 and 1918, Aberdeen Football Club saw a total of 33 players and members of staff leaving Pittodrie to serve in many areas. Of these, eight made the ultimate sacrifice with their lives.
 
There were other former players who also lost their lives during the conflict and undoubtedly there were many associated with Pittodrie, including the supporters, who suffered in different degrees as a result of the trials of warfare.
 
The AFC Heritage Trust has for some years now observed Armistice Day on each 11th November and has created a memorial in the Richard Donald Stand that can be visited by supporters.
 
The Armistice ceremony at Pittodrie has grown steadily over the past five years and this one was the most extensive yet, with representation from many branches of the services, including the Gordon Highlanders and the Ghurkhas, and the unveiling of a special tribute to the many Aberdeen supporters who also lost their lives in warfare.

Dons Support Poppy Scotland

Ahead of Remembrance Sunday Russell Anderson joined volunteers from Poppy Scotland in the Bon Accord Centre to publicise this years' poppy appeal and to lend his support to this worthy cause.

Scott Brown Visits Cults Primary School
On Tuesday 4th November some lucky children from Cults Primary School got the chance to meet Aberdeen goalkeeper & Dons Day Out Ambassador Scott Brown!

The visit took place as a reward to Cults Primary School for their previous participation in our fundraising through football scheme, Dons Day Out, sponsored by CNR International (UK) Ltd. Scott fielded questions from around 20 kids before holding a penalty shootout in the school gym hall!

AFC Open GDF Suez HQ

The new HQ offices of GDF SUEZ UK on Riverside Drive were formally opened by Dons Vice Chairman George Yule with the League Cup on show for this very prestigious event. The event was attended by many leading figures from Aberdeen-based business and politics and the senior management of GDF SUEZ in Paris and London also attended.

AFCCT 7s – Tesco Bank Teachers In-Service 
AFCCT 7s coaches welcomed Scottish FA Community Coach Scott Duncan to Aultons Pitches at Seaton on Saturday 1^st November for the first ever AFCCT 7s Tesco Bank 7v7 Teachers In-Service.

he in-service was a real success with 30 coaches from various AFCCT 7s primary school teams attending to watch Scott Duncan in action, delivering a variety of content relating to the 7v7 game and the players that will play this format.

The In-Service was delivered thanks to support from Tesco Bank. In partnership with the Scottish FA, the Tesco Bank Football Challenge delivered in Aberdeen City and Shire via AFC Community Trust is now in its 5^th year of supporting grassroots Football. 

October Holiday Camp – Players of the Week
Throughout the October School Holidays AFC Community Trust delivered football camps at various venues across Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire.  A week long camp at Aberdeen Sports Village was followed by three day camps at Fraserburgh, Inverurie and Westhill as well as two day camps at Stonehaven, Alford, Mintlaw and Turriff. The camps seen over 250 youngsters participating and enjoying football in a safe and child friendly environment.

A Player of the Week award was presented to a player from each group during week 1 at Aberdeen Sports Village in addition to 1 overall winner from the smaller camps. The 16 winners of the awards are pictured above on the pitch at half-time during our match against Celtic.

Positive Coaching Scotland Workshop
AFCCT hold quarterly In-service evenings for all members of staff working and volunteering within the Trust. The purpose of these in-services is to keep everybody up to date with current best practice and improve the delivery of content throughout the wide range of programmes AFCCT deliver across Aberdeen City and Shire, particularly our After-School and Holiday Football Coaching programmes.
 
The theme for the latest in-service held this month was a Positive Coaching Scotland (PCS) Workshop which was delivered by Senior Scottish FA Community Coach Steven Sweeney. The interactive workshop is designed to provoke thoughts amongst the coaches on how they currently deliver programmes and reinforce ideas as to how they can get the best out of all the participants they engage with by being a positive role model.

McDonald’s Community Club Project
Aberdeen FC Community Trust are running a new programme for grassroots clubs within the city in partnership with the Scottish Football Association and Aberdeen City Council.
 
The McDonalds Community Club Project is a new initiative which will see a member of the Scottish Football Association coaching staff work individually with the club coaches of a grassroots club within the city for approximately six months. The project is in association with McDonalds, who part fund the programme.
 
Scottish Football Association Development Officer Liam Duncan who works with AFCCT will work with Cove Youth Football Club and Culter Youth Football Club for the next 6 months. Aberdeen Football Club Community Trust will work in partnership with the Scottish FA in delivering the McDonalds Community Club project.
 
The programme will see Liam work specifically with the coaches of Cove Youth Football Club and Culter Youth Football Club with the aim to mentor the coaches on specific aspects of the game. This in turn will feed back to the players, as they reap the benefits of their coaches getting specific one to one work with a member of the Scottish Football Association. The project will see Liam work with several grassroots clubs within the city of Aberdeen over a 4 year period after an application process.

League Cup Visits Fraserburgh

On Saturday 15th November, members of the local community were given the opportunity to see the League Cup ahead of the match between Fraserburgh and Forres Mechanics at Bellslea Park.

ASN Primary School Festival

On Thursday 13^th November the annual ASN Primary School Festival took place at Aberdeen Sports Village. Over 30 pupils from across Aberdeen City and Shire took part in the event which consisted of small sided games and fun skills based coaching stations.

The event was co-ordinated by Active Schools and was supported by coaches from AFCCT and Moray College. AFC club captain Russell Anderson, Nicky Low, Craig Murray and Angus the Bull also took time out to come along much to the delight of the pupils who attended on the day!

Can Collection Success

Ahead of our recent match with Celtic at Pittodrie Aberdeen FC Community Trust held a can collection and received donations amounting to the fantastic total of £1,261.79.

Everyone at Aberdeen FC Community Trust would like to thank all supporters for their kind donations and the volunteers from our various community programmes for giving their time up to help the on the day.

League Cup Visits SCORE UK

George Yule and the League Cup also visited SCORE UK in Peterhead allowing many fans who work at the firm to get their hands on the trophy.

AFC also supported the Westdyke BC fund raising dinner at the Treetops Hotel with Russell Anderson participating in a Q+A.