Aberdeen FC Community Trust Launches GoFitba project at a partner school

Aberdeen FC Community Trust Launches GoFitba project at a partner school

Aberdeen FC Community Trust are excited to announce the launch of our GoFitba Project at one of their Partner Schools, Heathryburn Primary. This football-based afterschool programme aims to promote health and wellbeing to over 20 children. 

This project takes a holistic approach to teach children the benefits of regular physical activity within a football environment, with each structured session providing the Scottish Government’s minimum daily target of one hour of moderate physical activity. This is a brand new 12 week community project delivered by The Scottish Football Partnership Trust and Aberdeen FC Community Trust. The GoFitba project is co-funded by The SFP Trust, The UEFA Foundation for Children and The Kilpatrick Fraser Charitable Trust.

Through a fun and progressive structure, the initiative allows the pupils a chance to enjoy and participate in an hour of fun football-based activity, followed by an hour where they were taught some basic education around leading a healthier lifestyle through diet and nutrition.  The kids then all sit together to enjoy a hot, healthy meal and enjoy each others company.

Community Coach and Education Officer, Harley Hamdani, says: “The GoFitba project will engage pupils in wider participation in physical activity outside of school curriculum time, as well as providing them with a hot, healthy meal. Support provided by The Scottish Football Partnership Trust & The MacRobert Trust will provide AFCCT with additional capacity to deliver a project that will encourage children to develop key life skills and promote positive health and nutrition.”

The main objectives of GoFitba are: 

• To provide primary schoolchildren with opportunities to take part in free-to-access fun football activity.
• To educate on the importance of being active and to use the football hour of GoFitba as a vehicle to improve their knowledge and understanding, self-esteem and confidence.
• To make use of their interactive GoFitba learning journal to educate on the importance of leading a healthier lifestyle and to increase the children’s confidence of working in groups.
• To provide a hot, healthy meal at the end of each session to help reinforce learning on diet and nutrition and to tackle food poverty by providing nutritious food.
• To Funhost a showcase event at the conclusion of each 12 week block for the participants and their parents/guardians and school teachers.