This Saturday, while over 10,000 Aberdeen supporters make the trip to Hampden, Aberdeen FC Community Trust shall be traveling further afield.

Six young volunteers aged between 13 and 16, accompanied by two staff members, will be traveling to Nijmegen in the Netherlands to take part in the six day Community Champions League Youth Exchange with young people from NEC Nijmegen, Everton, and Spurs all participating.

The Community Champions League Youth Exchange aims to bring 26 young people and 8 staff members of 4 different Cities together to promote the involvement of young people in their communities, to promote European awareness, build new friendships and discuss the challenges they face in their own communities.

The football based social inclusion exchange will support young people to feel confident in taking part in all aspects of society. All partners and participants will contribute to the activities prior to the exchange and during the exchange itself.

Every organisation is responsible for the delivery of a part of the programme and all groups of participants also have the responsibility to present their own challenges and showcase their cultural backgrounds to the other participants.

The young volunteers have donated over 1000 hours of volunteering between them to AFCCT and have been on a huge personal development journey which has helped increased their confidence, social skills and their skills in working with the community.

Senior Community Projects Officer David Smith, who shall also be going to Nijmegen said “This trip will further help the development of these young people. We are delighted that the commitment and effort from these young people over the last year has allowed us to reward them with an exciting opportunity.  This trip will also be a fantastic learning experience, by promoting learning in a practical and informal setting as well as learning from the experiences and perspectives of other young people from around Europe . Sharing experiences of young people from four different cities should be a very powerful thing, everyone is really excited to be taking part”.

Attending the trip shall be Caitlyn Irvine (St Machar Academy), Jenna Macdonald (Aberdeen Grammar), Callum Brunton (Portlethen Academy), Joy Banda (St Machar Academy), Brandon Alexander (Northfield Academy), Graeme Cochrane (NESCOL), David Smith (Senior Community Projects Officer at AFCCT) and Claire Garrett (Community Coordinator at AFCCT).