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.

AFC Community Trust continue to push ‘one club, one city’ mantra as Dons expand community outreach programme

Aberdeen FC Community Trust chief executive Liz Bowie.
Aberdeen FC Community Trust chief executive Liz Bowie.

One club, one city.

That is the mantra at the heart of Aberdeen and its community trust, which has been to try bring some positivity to the front doors of those who need it most.

With the coronavirus lockdown in place across the United Kingdom, the AFCCT have teamed up with CFINE (Community Food Initiatives North East) to generate donations, provide food packages and deliver them to those most vulnerable at this stressful team.

Liz Bowie, the trust’s chief executive, has been on the delivery runs herself and seen the positive impact the work is having. Communities are being brought closer together with every single drop-off.

“We’re trying to deliver food every single day of the working week,” she said. “I did some on Wednesday last week and you phone the people in advance to tell them you’re pulling up; they’re so grateful and we’ve had some great correspondence from people via phone or email afterwards. One lady said we were a godsend and a real weight off her mind.

“Some people have got large numbers of children. Just making sure they’re fed and looked after is massively important..

“These are families we’ve worked with through the schools. A lot of them come for morning breakfast with us and then after school clubs. Over the holiday period they would come to camps with us as well.

Cormack and the Aberdeen board continue to back the trust’s efforts.

“They’re children that have a relationship with the community trust but now we’re getting involved with their families as well.

“It’s about working with the community and raising their aspirations and get the full potential out of people. In times like this, everyone comes together and it’s one of the positives you can take out of this – people are coming together and making sure they support everyone in the community.”

As part of the outreach, phone calls from players, ex-players and staff members have been given to vulnerable season-ticket holders. Understandably these have proven popular, with Joe Lewis, Shay Logan, Andy Considine, Tony Docherty and Neil Simpson among those getting involved.

“It’s been such a boost,” added Bowie. “You see the existing players getting involved, Dave Cormack has been on the phone to people. It’s just a very unexpected surprise, to have one of these people to pick up the phone, take the time and care.

“It involves people taking time out of their day just to have that little bit of human interaction and compassion. It’s really uplifting for people just to get something different come into their world, from a player who they maybe look up to or a player from the past they have always admired.

 

“I’ve always said it’s one club, one city. It’s at the heart of this city and it has that ability to galvanise support and bring people together. It’s great for all charity to see what that power can be.

“For us, it’s to get this campaign going in earnest and reach out to 12,000 people. That’s quite an undertaking. Our focus is really on getting that up and running and powering ahead. I’d like to say a massive thank you to the supporters of the football club and the community trust, and to the people of Aberdeen and greater Aberdeenshire for getting behind what we’re doing.

“It just gives everyone a boost to get that feedback and know we’re making a difference out there.”

The justgiving page that was set up to generate for the #StillStandingFree programme has, including gift aid, generated more than £10,000 since its inception. It is helping the trust and CFINE stay on the roads and continue to provide a valuable service for those who may be housebound.

Bowie added: “It’s remarkable. Again, a massive thank you to people who are stepping up to the plate. The messages we’re getting along with their financial contributions are really uplifting. People at this end are putting in a lot of effort and long hours – those messages and donations give everyone a bit of encouragement.

“From everything you hear, it’s very uncertain. I think we’re going to be in this for the long haul. We need people to dig deep, the need is huge, so please give us your support.”