Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdeenshire RFC host free rugby camp to create ‘safe place’ for Aberdeen’s most deprived kids

Members of Aberdeenshire RFC hope to create a youth section for the first time in more than a decade - while also giving kids a safe place to go.

A north-east rugby club is hoping to create a “safe zone” for children this week.

Aberdeenshire RFC is hosting a free Easter camp at its grounds, which is in one of Aberdeen’s most deprived areas – Woodside.

Around 120 kids from primary one to primary seven have signed up to the free Easter camp at Woodside Sports Complex, which runs from today until Wednesday.

Training sessions to form teams will then will begin in two weeks.

Aberdeenshire RFC’s free camp, at Woodside Sports Complex, was in full swing this morning. Image: Wullie Marr/DC Thomson

The club has not had a youth section for about 12 years, and youth development officer Paul Harrow is excited to see moves to change that – while supporting the local community.

The 31-year-old said he was looking forward to giving back to the team that helped him  so much as a kid.

“I’ve been at the club for 21 years now I started playing myself when I was nine,” he said.

“When I was younger, the club helped me out a lot in my life so I’m hoping I can do the same for some of the kids in the area.

“It was my safe place, my safe zone just come down here and forget about the other troubles in life.”

Aberdeenshire RFC’s youth development officer Paul Harrow. Image: Wullie Marr / DC Thomson

Offering a safe place to ‘feel part of a team’

Leaving behind a background as a welder in oil and gas, six months ago Mr Harrow “took the jump” to become the youth development officer.

The Tillydrone resident has since introduced rugby to around 700 children through visiting schools such as St Machar Academy and Northfield Academy.

However, the first team and club captain at Aberdeenshire RFC said he was looking forward to offering training in a few weeks.

“For the community there’s not much in the area to do,” he said.

Around 120 kids aged Primary one to Primary seven have signed up. Image: Wullie Marr / DC Thomson.

“Here is a perfect place for them to come. It’s a safe zone, it’s a safe area to come down and play a bit of rugby.

“It doesn’t matter your shape or size where you’re from or your background especially at this club, they just let everybody have a game.

“That was true when I was younger as well, maybe I was one of the outcast kids and I came down here and I got to feel like part of a team.

“For the club it’s important because we need youth coming through to then to play for the adult session which we’ve struggled with over the last couple of years.”

Adamant no barriers for kids to attend the camp

At the end of the year, the club hope to have three teams in the youth section with the camp being the first “big milestone” to achieving this.

As the club situated in “one of the most deprived areas of Aberdeen“, Mr Harrow said he and head of youth, Jamie Stephen, were “adamant” the camp should be free for all.

Kids attending will receive breakfast and lunch and a free rugby ball and personalised water bottle at the end funded by the club and other sponsors.

As well as rugby tips, the participants have been given free breakfast and lunch and a nutrition quiz to teach them about healthy lifestyle choices. Image: Wullie Marr / DC Thomson

It will also include a nutrition quiz to help teach them about healthy eating and lifestyle choices.

Mr Harrow said: “A lot of kids maybe don’t know about nutrition and it’s quite important for rugby for your body to have fuel, good fuel.

“Rugby uses different muscles and your body needs that fuel to keep going.

“The healthier you eat the happier you are and the more rugby you can play.”

Conversation