Aberdeen University and Aberdeen Football Club have announced their partnership supporting north-east communities will continue for another year.
The initiative began in 2018, formed by the AFC, Aberdeen FC Community Trust and the university.
As the north-east recovers from the pandemic, the partnership is an important tool to help young people obtain more opportunities.
Through workshops, the aim is to engage with young people and equip them with the skills needed to enter employment, with tasks designed to develop creative skills and real-life working practices like marketing campaigns.
Peter Edwards, vice principal regional engagement and regional recovery, said: “Partnership working is essential to the Covid-19 recovery and the many current challenges facing our communities in the north-east.
“Our founding principle is to be ‘open to all’ and part of that is engaging with our communities to encourage people from all backgrounds into higher education.
“We are delighted to once again be joining forces with the north-east’s own football team to work together to improve life experiences and provide opportunities for our young people.”
The hope is that pupils are encouraged to lift their aspirations, develop business skills and employability and address attainment issues among young people.
The AFCCT works with over 1,200 pupils across 25 schools in the north-east to encourage children to enter higher education.
Partnership is a ‘perfect example’ of positive collaboration
Attainment has been a focus of the Scottish Government, which in November 2021 set out a plan to address the issue through the Scottish Attainment Challenge.
Over the next five years, the government will invest £1billion in addressing the attainment gap.
It will include £200million to help young children in poverty and help for care-experienced children and an investment in national programmes to link children across Scotland.
Robbie Hedderman, AFC Business Development manager, added: “Our partnership with the University of Aberdeen continues to be the perfect example of the positive impact a collaborative approach to education can have in our local community.
“As a club and trust we strive to raise the aspirations of our young people and this approach aligns with the University’s overarching desire to be ‘open to all’, encouraging people from a wide variety of backgrounds into higher education.”