It has been another busy year in 2017 for the Garioch Partnership between AFCCT, Garioch Sports Centre (GSC) and Highland League club Inverurie Loco Works F.C. (ILWFC). This past year has seen a significant increase in the engagement of participants from various backgrounds in the Garioch area with ages ranging from 3-90+ years old. The total has risen from just over 1,500 participants in 2016 to 2,571 in 2017.
In January, AFCCT supported Inverurie Community Football Partnership (ICFP) members with the introduction of a Robert Gordon’s University (RGU) Sport Scientist for 6 weeks. This is a unique concept for Highland League Youth Development and Grassroots clubs to receive as there is normally limited access to this resource. The Sport Scientist – David Scott predominately worked with the ILWFC youth development squads and Colony Park grassroots players.
This included demonstrating a variety of content on the pitch to help educate both players and coaches on the benefit of developing key physical characteristics in young football players such as speed, agility, co-ordination and strength alongside injury prevention techniques. In addition, the ILWFC 20’s squad received a nutrition workshop and a sport science player resource to help aid optimal performances on the pitch by looking at their eating habits off the pitch. AFCCT would like to thank David and RGU for their valuable contribution over the 6 weeks.
Fast forward to April, and after the success of AFCCT’s community day at the Aberdeen FC vs Motherwell FC SPFL fixture in March. Inverurie Locos set their sights on replicating a similar community day with the support of the GSC and AFCCT at their final home game of the season on April 15th 2017 against Nairn County at Harlaw Park. The Highland League club gave out free tickets to local Garioch schools for the match and laid on a few extra attractions including free Easter Eggs, Face Painting, Live Music, Mascots and Half-Time Entertainment. On the day, there was over 700 supporters in attendance and for many this was the first time they had attended an Inverurie Locos match.
Mike Macaulay, Inverurie Loco Works F.C. Chairman said: ‘We have made great strides in 2017 to become one of the best teams in the Highland League both on and off the pitch. As a club we place a huge importance on not only winning 3 points on a Saturday but also engaging with local members of our community. Our partnership with the GSC and AFCCT has allowed us to deliver free football in local primary schools; support Syrian Refugees through football; interact further with those from Care Homes and those living with Dementia and many more fantastic initiatives.
The Community Day in April was a brilliant occasion for the club and there was a number of people who had never stepped inside Harlaw Park before attending the game. We only hope to grow this relationship stronger with the GSC and AFCCT and engage with more members of our community in 2018.
It is also important to emphasis the change in relationship we have with our local Junior and Grassroots clubs since joining the ICFP and SFA Quality Mark award scheme. One example, is our 1st team management team are now more regularly in contact with the Colony Juniors Manager and we currently have 4 Locos youth players gaining vital experience in the Men’s game by playing for their local junior club, this simply did not happen before. In 2018, we hope to develop our youth system and local player pathway further whilst leaning on AFCCT and the SFA for guidance.’
One area of the partnership that has developed significantly in 2017 is the Wider Community Engagement within the local Inverurie and Garioch area. One key project delivered was the first ‘Garioch Games’ in Aberdeenshire. The Garioch Games involves 6 partner agencies including the Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership, Inverurie Loco Works F.C., Garioch Sports Centre, Paths for All, Alzheimer Scotland and Dementia Friends.
Tesco Inverurie also kindly donated food and refreshments for the event. The Garioch Games aims to support over 65's to become more active and encourage positive health and well-being among participants through fun physical and social activities. A number of events took place at the Garioch Sports Centre and Harlaw Park (Inverurie Locos), and a few others at surrounding Garioch areas including Kemnay and Kintore.
Activities ranged from Health Walks in Kintore, Kemnay and Inverurie to Badminton, Spinning Bikes and Walking Football. AFCCT also delivered a 'Care Home Pentathlon' at the Garioch Sports Centre that seen residents from the Garioch (Inverurie), Overdon (Kintore) and Grove (Kemnay) Care Homes take part in 5 different physical activities plus a social event. The Garioch Games was designed by working towards the Scottish Government ‘Active Scotland Framework’ and 3 key Active Scotland outcomes were identified 1. To encourage elderly people who are inactive to become active; 2. To encourage those who are already active to stay active and 3. To support well-being and resilience in communities through physical activity and sport. In addition, the Aberdeen FC Community Trust’s participation in the award winning over 65’s Golden Games Sport and Activities programme in Aberdeen City was also a major factor when designing the Garioch Games.
The Garioch Care Home activity Coordinator said: 'The residents really enjoyed themselves and we have some others that wish to come along next time after seeing the photographs. It was well organised and delivered, hats off to Nicola she was excellent. We had some great feedback from the resident’s families after their relatives have done nothing but talk about it. It's great to see that more activities are taking place in the Shire and we would be up for anything that you guys have to offer.'
A unique 12 week Health Walk project delivered using Fitbit devices was also piloted this year. The 12 week project funded by NHS Grampian Endowment Fund allows people over the age of 60 year’s old to take part in low intensity exercise as part of a social group for free. Each 45-60 minute walk took place once a week around various routes of Inverurie along with GSC and AFCCT Walk Leader trained staff.
To monitor the effectiveness of health walks, Fitbit devices were worn by 15 participants to track their steps counted, distance travelled, calories burned and heart rate. In total, the group were able to cover a staggering 605km (375 miles) and 701,672 steps over the 12 weeks. The project has allowed a number of participants to become more active and also feel socially included within a community group, of whom a number of those were isolated.
Garioch Sports Trust Chairman, Gordon Booth mentioned: ‘Since the beginning of the partnership we have seen a dramatic increase in the amount of people accessing the Garioch Sports Centre who may not have had the opportunity before. In particular, the amount of people attending our Senior Zone activities has increased and we have also been able to add new senior classes to the timetable after feedback from participants during the fantastic Garioch Games event. We are a non-profit organization and we strive to support our local community no matter what their age, ability or background, we believe it should be fitness for all.
We are continuing to look at how we can engage with more members of our community whether this be through a simple health walk for elderly people or catering for those living with disabilities and thanks to the partnership with ILWFC and AFCCT we are confident this will grow significantly in the future.’
The partnership has also added to the many Diversity and Inclusion programmes AFCCT run. The Inverurie project, supported by CNR International runs once a week in partnership with Inverurie Academy and local authorities and aims to use football as the vehicle for social inclusion. The programme is also used as a tool to support language development, confidence, healthy living and to provide a sense of normality for the participants.
Most recently, after receiving funding from the Garioch Health Improvement Fund a Syrian Adult recreational football session has been created to allow the Syrian teenagers and adults a safe environment to play football on Friday evenings. Teaming up with the Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership will help to remove barriers to supporting individuals with mental health conditions through the power of football. Finally, AFCCT have been working closely with ICFP member and SFA Quality Mark Legacy Award Holders Colony Park to integrate 3 Syrian teenagers to play at the clubs under 16’s and 19’s age groups respectively.
In addition to the initiatives highlighted above, Healthy Lifestyle projects – Football Fans in Training and for the first time Dons Family in Training – a 12 week project that encourages healthy living amongst families – were delivered at ILWFC’s home ground, Harlaw Park . In particular, the 11 participants who took part in the Garioch Football Fans in Training project lost a combined total of 50.3kg in weight and 87.3cm off their waistlines.
The final celebration evening took place on the 28th November and this seen the Aberdeen City FFIT group visit Harlaw Park for a Q&A with former Dons Youth Coach and current Locos boss Neil Cooper. This allowed the groups to share their experiences and positive lifestyle changes over the 12 weeks. Overall, the two groups lost an amazing total of just over 110kg. Once again, demonstrating the powerful impact of utilizing the football club’s badge and facilities to help people lead a healthier lifestyle.
AFCCT Community Coach, Stephen Boddie Said: ‘It has been another tremendous year for the Garioch Partnership through the amount of people that we are currently working with and positive effect we are having on a wide variety of groups. This can only be done through a successful partnership and it is fantastic to work with such like-minded organisations such as the GST and ILWFC, the people there genuinely want the best for their community.
'I personally feel this a great example of effective partnership working and I would encourage more organisations who want to change people’s lives for the better to adopt this approach. A personal highlight this year was seeing an 84 year old Gentleman play his first game of Badminton in over 50 years, it was brilliant to see him enjoying himself.
'Once again, this only happened due to like-minded partner agencies who want to give back to the people in their community and I must thank all the partners, coaches and volunteers who have made this such a terrific year!!’
