Aberdeen FC Community Trust’s engaging football programme Red Start kicks off again this week for school children throughout the North East of Scotland.   The Red Start programme, which was created to combine football, fitness and fun for children of primary school age was introduced not only to encourage children to engage in physical activity but to sign post them to opportunities within their local area and get them involved in all kinds of sport.   The programme has also been designed to provide a whole school approach where all pupils from each selected school benefits from taking part in a variety of activity sessions appropriate for each age and ability over a 6-week period.   Since Red Start began in 2016, 20 schools have taken part, with over 4000 pupils playing 720 hours of football.   Aaron Scully, AFCCT Community Coach for Red Start said, “I am really looking forward to getting Red Start back underway for another year. It’s a great addition to our school visit programme and something that benefits many children.   “It was fantastic to get so many kids engaged with football last year and to help encourage them to continue taking part in physical activity once the programme had finished, as well as creating fans of the future!   As part of the 4-year long programme it is hoped that AFCCT will also be able to create some future supporters of the club, with all schools having the opportunity to nominate selected pupils to attend a tour of the stadium before attending a match to see the first team play at Pittodrie.   Each school will choose which pupils visit Pittodrie Stadium, whether it is through a competition, by choosing children who have really engaged with the programme or those who have shown improvement throughout the initiative.   For more information on Red Start please email [email protected]