A football club that provides free camps for children in Aberdeen is celebrating great success less than a year after its launch.
Lifelong football fan Zander Thornton was inspired to start Zest Football Club during his time in rehab last year.
He is now celebrating 10 months of sobriety and says the club has played a large part in him achieving this.
“I think about Zest as soon as I wake up in the morning, and its the last thing I think about before I go to sleep at night,” he said.
“The impact Zest has had on me is unbelievable, its my new addiction – not a bad one to have. I’m here seven days a week, and there’s so much more to do, this is only the beginning.”
The 43-year-old hosted the first Zest football camps in the October holidays, which he said were “amazing”.
The club provided free food, transport and sport for 120 children, as well as free boots for those who needed them.
Talking to the Press and Journal last year, Mr Thornton said he hoped to expand the club further and give even more children in the north-east the opportunity to play for a team.
Even though it is still early days for the club, it is evident they will achieve this goal.
“We’ve had huge success. This year we have eight weeks of camps planned for 750 kids. And we now have two schedules running, one during school time and another in the holidays,” he said.
“Our slogan is ‘changing lives through football’. And it’s not just the doing this for the kids and the adults participating – it helps the mental health of the whole family. The kids can enjoy playing football without their parents worrying about needing to pay.”
At a time when living costs are on the rise, the club wants to makes sure young people have somewhere they can go to exercise and socialise without worrying about the cost.
The Zest team now has four full-time members of staff to help make football more accessible, and has benefited from further sponsorships, including VMS Vehicle Hire providing a mini-bus for all camps throughout the year.
The club’s first initiative, a football boot bank, has also taken a big leap forward with the addition of a custom-made container, so they have a place to store all of the boots that have been donated.
Does your child want to play football?
Zest will be running two weeks of football camps at Goals during the Easter holidays for children aged between five and 12.
They say the camps are full of “fun and games” and will help children improve their football skills while making new friends.
There are also half-day sessions available for three and four-year-olds who are keen to try out the sport for the first time.
One of the latest additions to the club schedule is a noon session for adults with additional support needs that takes place every Thursday at Goals.
Anyone interested in signing their child up for a Zest football session should visit the website here. All camps and classes are free, but any donations are appreciated.