Aberdeen children’s football group closes amid charity watchdog probe

Watchdogs have clamped down on a children’s football group – stopping leaders from taking money for lessons.

The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) has lifted the lid on a probe into ZesT Football Club, which stages training in Aberdeen and Westhill.

The outfit was formed by lifelong football fan Zander Thornton in 2021, offering free training to underprivileged children.

It was started after a crowd-funder raised more than £950.

And Mr Thornton said the initiative helped him to recover from addiction problems.

Hundreds of children have since enjoyed learning more about the beautiful game across various camps.

The organiser told us: “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.”

ZesT Football Club had been planning more training sessions this month

By last year, ZesT had secured sponsorships and hired four full-time employees.

But it appears to have recently encountered difficulties.

Posts on the club’s Facebook page across September seek £5 donations to help cover the cost of training underprivileged children over the upcoming school break.

Leaders also confirmed that the upcoming sessions would “sadly” be their final camps, as Mr Thornton told followers about a battle with depression.

He said ZesT “simply couldn’t continue”, while admitting to difficulties managing the venture.

A message on September 21 states: “We still need to find funding for 17 places, and we are under four weeks away.”

Bosses displayed letters from youngsters they had “promised would be coming back”.

The sessions, free for “underprivileged families”, were to run from October 16 to October 27 at Aberdeen Beach.

However, some better off parents would have to pay up to £75 per week if they wanted lessons combined with travel and food.

What have watchdogs discovered?

Watchdogs say they launched an investigation into the group in April, after hearing of “concerns” relating to its management.

Since then, they have grilled trustees on how it operates.

And today OSCR has published findings indicating that it found there to be a “lack of both charity trustees and adequate financial procedures and controls”.

This has led to immediate action being taken.

What will Westhill’s ZesT Football Club have to stop doing?

While the probe continues, ZesT football club has been ordered to cease certain activities.

Bosses have been banned from “any activity in furtherance of ZesT Football Club’s charitable purposes”.

And a stop has been put to all financial transactions.

That is, other than refunding payments that have already been made for sessions now facing the axe over the October holidays.

OSCR stresses that this does not “pre-empt the final outcome of the inquiry”.
An updated report will be published in due course.

Mr Thornton told us he was “disappointed” by the blow, and had “tried everything” to make the charity work.

You can read the full report here, and read more about how the club got started here.