In partnership with Interfaith Aberdeen – the regional interfaith organisation for North East Scotland – Sport Aberdeen’s community sport team hosted a series of sports sessions as part of Refugee Week.

Refugee Week is the world’s largest arts and culture festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees.

Sport Aberdeen’s sessions took place at its venues Get active @ Kincorth from 14:00 to 17:00 on June 17 and Get active @ Sheddocksley from 19:00 to 22:00 on June 18.

The events were fun and social, attracting over 30 people from a wide variety of nationalities who all came together to play and compete in squash, badminton, pickleball and table tennis.

Sport Aberdeen is involved in sportscotland’s Kit for All project – collecting and providing preloved and recycled sports kit and equipment, aiming to reduce barriers to participation in sport and physical activity. Individuals attending both events were given sports kit through this scheme.

As a result of Sport Aberdeen’s community sport team having a positive reputation of working with the New Scots community in general, the team was approached by Nuart artist Addam Yekutieli who was keen to connect with New Scots and express their voices through his work.  

The community sport team facilitated the connection and as a result, local New Scots were featured in Addam’s work which can now be viewed in central Aberdeen.

This is a great example of how connections between the arts and sport can lead to unique and powerful outcomes.

Mark Pain, Community Sport Manager at Sport Aberdeen, said: “It was great to work in partnership with Interfaith Aberdeen to deliver these events and harness the power of sport and physical activity to create a positive impact on those who have faced significant challenges in their lives.

“We also work with New Scots through our Football for All project, providing a weekly opportunity to play 5-a-side football, which has been hugely successful.

“We will continue to look for ways to create innovative projects and ensure everyone in our communities can access sport and physical activity opportunities.”