- Sport Aberdeen and the LTA agree partnership to breathe new life into local park tennis courts in Aberdeen.
- The project will see a £209,000 investment in outdoor tennis courts located at Ruthrieston and Northfield Outdoor Centres.
- Investment comes from the UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation’s Park Tennis Project, being delivered by the LTA, as well as from Sport Aberdeen.
Sport Aberdeen and the LTA have today announced a partnership to invest in and refurbish outdoor tennis courts at Ruthrieston and Northfield Outdoor Centres. In total, two park tennis venues will be renovated, with a joint investment of £209,000 helping ensure that quality facilities are available for the local community.
The project is part of a nationwide investment by the UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation, delivered by the LTA, to refurbish public tennis courts across Great Britain, and open up the sport to many more people. This investment will see thousands of existing park tennis courts in poor or unplayable condition brought back to life for the benefit of communities across the country through renovation works, and improved court accessibility with new gate-access technology and booking systems.
Park tennis courts are vital in providing opportunities for children and adults to get active, delivering significant physical and mental health and wellbeing benefits to participants. Accessible facilities in parks are particularly critical to opening up the sport to those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and women and girls.
In addition to investment of £203,000 from the UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation, £6,000 will be invested by Sport Aberdeen.
Alongside the investment, Sport Aberdeen, which manages the outdoor centres on behalf of Aberdeen City Council, will work with the LTA to deliver a range of activity across the park sites. This will include free weekly park tennis sessions for all ages, playing levels and experience where equipment is provided, meaning that people will not need someone to play with, or their own racket. Local Tennis Leagues will also provide friendly, sociable, opportunities to get active through local competition.
The park venues being renovated at Ruthrieston and Northfield Outdoor Centres will be available to book online via the LTA website making it easy to find and book a court or activity.
Work has begun on site and will be completed by September 2023.
Investment into parks is one way in which the LTA is working to open tennis up across Scotland, in partnership with Tennis Scotland. The LTA, Tennis Scotland and Sportscotland are also delivering the £15million Transforming Scottish Indoor Tennis fund to provide more year-round community accessible tennis provision, including the development of new indoor facilities in Oriam and Moray which are currently underway.
Following the hosting of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals and Davis Cup Regional Finals in Glasgow last year, which were both attended by hundreds of school children, work is ongoing to significantly increase the number of young people who have the opportunity to pick up a racket at school, through the LTA Youth programme.
Graeme Dale, Head of Sport and Active Communities, Sport Aberdeen said:
“Providing accessible access to a range of sports is at the core of what we do. It is fantastic to see new life breathed into these tennis courts and I hope that this will encourage many more people to take the opportunity to join in and experience the benefits of being active.”
Julie Porter, Chief Operating Officer at the LTA, said:
“We are delighted to be working with Sport Aberdeen to improve these park tennis facilities and provide more opportunities for anyone to pick up a racket and get active. This investment is part of the UK Government and LTA’s Parks Tennis Project and will mean that courts will be available for people to use for years to come. We will also be working closely with Sport Aberdeen and Aberdeen City Council to ensure that the local community have a range of accessible opportunities to get on court and open up our sport to many more people.”
Aberdeen City Council Co-Leader Councillor Ian Yuill said:
“Today’s announcement by the Lawn Tennis Association and Sport Aberdeen is great news for residents – especially those in the Broomhill and Northfield areas. People in Broomhill and Northfield will now have access to refurbished and modern outdoor tennis facilities, right on their doorstep.
“The social and mental wellbeing benefits of physical activity are well documented. By ensuring that these renovated facilities are easily accessible to residents it will make it easier for people of all ages to go outside and enjoy some fresh air and have fun playing or trying to play tennis.”
Above: Works have commenced to renovate outdoor tennis courts at Ruthrieston (left) and Northfield (right).
Local award-winning charity Sport Aberdeen is ecstatic to find out it has been shortlisted in the ‘Learn to Swim Provider of the Year’ category of the Scottish Swimming Awards 2023.
The charity takes great pride in offering its widely acclaimed learn to swim programme across the city, providing a progressive pathway from school-aged tuition up to club ready level.
An impressive 95% of customers who took part in a recent survey said they would recommend Sport Aberdeen’s Learn to Swim programme.
Dianne Breen, Programme & Membership Services Manager, said: “We are delighted to be a finalist in this year’s Scottish Swimming Awards in the ‘Learn to Swim Provider of the Year’ category.
“We are passionate about delivering an excellent aquatics programme in a welcoming, fun and inclusive environment, providing a clear pathway and progression for swimmers.
“To have this recognised by being a finalist is so rewarding, and we look forward to celebrating with everyone at the ceremony in Glasgow in September.”
Sport Aberdeen’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion had led to programme expansion, with an additional support needs swimming pathway on offer which experienced a 90% increase in attendees since 2022.
A recent customer said: “I have been blown away with how supportive the team are at Aquatics Aberdeen.
“They have been accommodating to my sons’ needs and supported his learning brilliantly. I want to mention Angela, who I cannot thank enough for helping get my son from being overwhelmed and frightened of going into the water, to jumping in with sheer delight! His teacher Holly and her helpers are so attentive and calm with him. They are wonderful.”
Partnership working and building relationships forms an integral part of Sport Aberdeen’s programming – it worked with the NHS to develop a Water Wellbeing programme, with outreach NHS sessions offered as part of a hydrotherapy referral pathway.
Amputee water familiarisation referral sessions were also introduced to encourage water confidence, led by the NHS and supported by Sport Aberdeen teachers to help amputees gain confidence in water.
Another example is Sport Aberdeen’s partnership agreement with GoodBoost, developed to deliver water-based aqua rehabilitation sessions to customers with muscular-skeletal conditions. This started in 2023 and Sport Aberdeen is the only provider in Scotland delivering these classes.
Sport Aberdeen looks forward to celebrating with other members of the aquatics community at the awards ceremony on Saturday 23 September at The Radisson Blu Hotel in Glasgow.
Local charity Sport Aberdeen has been shortlisted as a finalist in the ‘Healthy Communities’ category at the national ukactive Awards.
Organisations, operators and suppliers in both the public and private sectors of the physical activity industry across the UK have been recognised for their excellence and innovation. The ukactive Awards is the sector’s biggest awards ceremony of the year, taking place in Leeds on Thursday 26 October.
The ‘Healthy Communities’ award recognises an organisation leading/delivering a physical activity focused programme, product or initiative that is targeted at the wider community to encourage increased activity and participation. Sport Aberdeen has been recognised for it’s SPACE (Supported Physical Activity for Care Experienced) programme, designed to support care experienced children and young people in Aberdeen towards a brighter future.
In recognition of Sport Aberdeen’s success, a motion to the Scottish Parliament was raised by Kevin Stewart MSP stating:
“That the Parliament congratulates Sport Aberdeen on becoming a finalist in the Healthy Communities category at 2023’s ukactive Awards; recognises that the nomination is for the Supported Physical Activity for Care Experienced (SPACE) programme, which is designed to support care experienced children and young people; understands that the initiative aims to ensure that each young person has a voice and can select the sporting activities that they wish to participate in; commends the team at Sport Aberdeen and all of the participants for their efforts, and wishes them success at the awards ceremony, which will take place in Leeds on 26 October.”
Graeme Dale, Sport Aberdeen Head of Sport and Active Communities, said: “It is fantastic that the significant, positive impact that Sport Aberdeen has in our local communities has been recognised at a UK wide level. As a corporate parent we are committed to supporting care experienced children and young people and breaking down barriers to participation.
“SPACE is a unique programme that has a life-changing impact on the young people it engages with through bespoke one-to-one support. The delivery model is a child-centred approach, ensuring that each child has a voice and can select the sporting activities they wish to participate in.”
In the last financial year, Sport Aberdeen delivered 600 hours of direct support to young people through one-to-one interventions. In December, the charity provided twenty Christmas gifts to young people supported through the programme – each gift was personalised depending on the interests of the young person.
Based on understanding that relative poverty adversely impacts on health and wellbeing, Sport Aberdeen currently provides over 500 Get active and Get active Junior memberships to all care experienced children, young people and a member of their support network.
The free memberships give access to activities including swimming, ice skating, golf, tennis, tubing, snowsports and more.
A primary 7 pupil who participated in SPACE recently commented: “I think SPACE is beneficial because it’s really engaging and gets me active. It gets me outside and sporty – we play basketball and football and everything. It cheers me up and calms me down when I’m struggling. I like that I can talk and get my feelings out which helps me feel better.”
The impact of SPACE is significant – a recent example is an S2 pupil who was referred by a social worker for not engaging in school, lack of peer relationships and a difficult home life. The young person wasn’t attending school, therefore did not participate in PE.
The young person built a relationship with their Sport Aberdeen project activator and tried new activities, built their confidence, explored opportunities and developed key skills. As a result, the young person (now in S5) progressed to be an Active Schools volunteer through the extracurricular programme helping at local primary schools and is on the Active Schools leadership programme.
SPACE is funded in partnership with Aberdeen City Council.
The full list of finalists for 2023 can be found on ukactive’s website here.
Following a recent review, Sport Aberdeen was delighted to receive positive feedback from the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) on the grounds maintenance works provided by idverde UK regarding the condition of its Kings Links Golf Course.
The charity regularly invests in course improvement works across all of its golf courses to enhance the experience for its customers and members.
Improvements at the end of last season involved bunker revetting, tee levelling, and routine annual winter course maintenance to the greens including brushing, light verticutting, deep aeriation, top dressing and application of wetting agents and other treatments which all help promote the regeneration of root systems to provide high quality greens.
After his visit in late May, Gary Smith, Agronomist at STRI, said: “Sport Aberdeen could claim to have some of the best presented and highest agronomic standard municipal courses in Scotland.
“The greens at Kings Links are much further on and offer better playing conditions than the vast majority of courses I’ve seen for this time of year.”
Graham Ritchie, Golf and Outdoor Services Manager at Sport Aberdeen, said: “We were delighted to receive praise from Gary Smith at STRI regarding the condition of greens at all of our Golf Courses.
“Our longstanding effective partnership working with idverde UK has been crucial to maintaining the high standards of our courses and we appreciate the hard work and dedication of the idverde team.”
Scott Davidson, Contracts Manager at idverde, said: “This is a flagship contract for idverde and we are very proud of the work we do to maintain the prestigious Sport Aberdeen golf courses across the city.
“It involves working with in tune with the weather conditions and nature as well as applying technical solutions to ensure we keep the greens at their best from a sustainable point of view for the benefit of players, visitors and wildlife. Our team being recognised in this way is a great testament to our work.”
Award-winning charity Sport Aberdeen is calling on members of the public to act now and help protect the future of its invaluable venues and services in the local community.
Every year, Aberdeen City Council (ACC) sets its budget for running public services. This budget includes the commissioning fee for Sport Aberdeen, which enables the charity to run its venues, programmes and services at a lower cost to customers.
Sport Aberdeen delivers a number of life-changing initiatives including its SPACE programme – improving the lives of care experienced children and young people through the power of sport and physical activity.
Another initiative – its Active Lifestyles programme – works with older adults and individuals with long term health conditions, helping them to get active in an inclusive environment.
To break down the barrier of price and provide more people with the opportunity to take part in sport and physical activity, Sport Aberdeen offers a discounted access scheme – Get active for Less.
This year, ACC is asking the people of Aberdeen to influence what the spending priorities should be for the next financial year.
Sport Aberdeen is urging the public to complete the ACC budget consultation survey and allocate 25 points to the ‘Arts, Culture and Sport’ category to help protect their local community facilities.
Alistair Robertson, Managing Director of Sport Aberdeen, said: “I am pleased that Aberdeen City Council and the Press & Journal has provided an opportunity for the public to rate the services that the council and its partners provide. My hope is that people will allocate part of their 100 points towards Sport Aberdeen; and 25 would be fantastic!
“We know our facilities and services have a real positive impact on tens of thousands of people every week, improving their health and wellbeing and influencing positively in so many ways.”
Alistair continued: “Sport Aberdeen does far more than perhaps is appreciated and we want to be around for many years to come, continuing our mission to create opportunities, inspire people and change lives through all that we do.
“Of course, I am biased, but the provision of quality sport and leisure services should be a fundamental part of any local authority’s offer, however pressures on public sector finance are making that increasingly difficult to sustain.
“Leisure is a non-statutory function, so we always have to shout louder and fight for a share of what is an ever-decreasing level of funding, and this is one of those times. I appeal to everyone who shares that view to vote; give us 25 points to help us survive!”
Diane McKay, local Sport Aberdeen member, said: “I was diagnosed with diabetes last year so coming to Get active @ Northfield to swim gives me the exercise I need, and it makes me feel relaxed. I usually try to go swimming twice a week.
“The facilities at Get active @ Northfield are lovely and clean, and the staff are always helpful. Everyone is catered for here – there are lots of options to suit everyone and I find it is great value for money, particularly if you take a membership which is what I have.
“It’s so important that our local sport and leisure facilities are protected.”
Members of the public have until Monday 31 July to complete the Aberdeen City Council Phase 1 budget consultation survey.
Spare less than five minutes and help to protect the future of Sport Aberdeen today by completing the survey online here, giving 25 points to the Arts, Culture and Sport category.
All 100 points must be allocated against a range of services before submissions will be accepted.
Award-winning charity Sport Aberdeen is proud to commit to the Young Person’s Guarantee, joining employers across Scotland in creating the best prospects it can for young people.
The Young Person’s Guarantee is a shared commitment to provide opportunities for all 16-24-year olds in Scotland through jobs, apprenticeships, further and higher education, training programmes and volunteering.
With the support of its local Developing the Youth Workforce (DYW) North East partner, Sport Aberdeen will focus on a number of initiatives for the rest of the year.
These include mentoring young people through the Career Ready programme, Modern Apprenticeship and work experience opportunities across different departments, and empowering young females through the Active Girls Committee to increase their participation in sport and physical activity and develop valuable leadership and team building skills.
Through this partnership, Sport Aberdeen will also engage with local schools to create work experience opportunities and encourage more young people to consider a career in the sport and leisure industry.
Nickie Scorgie, Head of HR and Organisational Development, said: “We are delighted to announce our commitment to the Young Person’s Guarantee.
“As a charity, we believe in supporting young people to reach their full potential and hope to inspire them to pursue a career in the sport and leisure sector.
“We are always open and willing to provide work experience – recently we had two S5 pupils complete one week in our marketing and commercial development team, and at present we have two S5 pupils working in our community sport team for a four-week period.
“Our casual leisure attendant workforce comprises of many young people and we also provide volunteering roles through our Active Schools extracurricular programme.”
Thalia Lyness, Employer School Coordinator at DYW North East, said: “We are pleased to be working more closely with Sport Aberdeen.
“Sport and physical activity will always have a strong place in my heart, and I am a firm believer that sport lays the foundation for an inherent understanding and development of essential meta skills in children and young adults.
“I think the Active Girls Committee is a brilliant piece of work, tackling a huge problem many schools face with reference to the self-esteem of young women.
“It was great to hear about all the fantastic work Sport Aberdeen does and I look forward to hearing about its new and ongoing activity.”
Award-winning charity Sport Aberdeen has launched exciting new membership products to help the city get more active.
There is strong evidence to justify the benefits of being physically active at any age, contributing towards healthier and happier lifestyles.
Research carried out by Ofcom in 2022 stated that 66% of 3-17 year olds have their own mobile phone, 76% have their own social media profile and 96% use video sharing platforms.
Sport Aberdeen hopes to inspire children and young people to put their devices down and spend more quality time enjoying sport and physical activity this summer and beyond.
Its new Get active Junior membership offers several activities across the city for only £22.50 per month.
Activities included are swimming, ice skating, tubing, specialised fitness classes, indoor and outdoor tennis, padel tennis, footgolf, open ski and snowboarding sessions and access to five golf courses.
A summer junior fitness class timetable has also been created for Get active Junior members and Teen Fitness members to attend for free, running for the next six weeks.
The classes will provide a great way to have fun, improve fitness and learn new techniques in a gym environment, and include the following:
- GetMoving focuses on improving mobility and maintaining flexibility in a variety of low impact ways.
- GetFit is a high intensity circuits-style class building strength and stamina.
- GetStrong offers an introduction to safe lifting techniques using free weights.
Classes will run at Get active @ Northfield for week one, Get active @ Sheddocksley for week two, Get active @ Jesmond for week three, Get active @ Kincorth for week four and Get active @ Alex Collie for week five.
A new membership has been launched for adults – Get active – which includes swimming, over 100 fitness classes every week, access to all gyms, ice skating, golf at five courses, tennis, badminton, padel tennis and open ski and snowboarding sessions.
The price of the Get active membership is £46 per month – the only membership in Aberdeen to offer so many activities for one low monthly cost. Further details on each membership product can be found here.
Eleven year old snowboarding enthusiast from Aberdeen, Saul Brown is flying down the slopes after winning at the Kendal K-Jam under 12’s freestyle snowboarding competition in England on May 13.
In advance of the competition, Saul felt confident and excited after his private coaching session in the Manchester Snowdome the day before with John Weatherly from The BoobyTrap.
At the freestyle event, he spent the morning on jumps and the afternoon on rails doing more than enough to be crowned the winner for the second year in a row.
Dedicating around 10 hours per week to snowboarding, Saul usually hits the slopes at Adventure Aberdeen Snowsports Centre every evening after school and at the weekends.
His first taster of snowboarding was aged 3 years old at Glenshee Ski Centre, then he started coming to Adventure Aberdeen Snowsports Centre when he was 6 and has been coming ever since.
Saul receives two hours of coaching on a Wednesday evening at the centre with coaches Fraser or Logan.
His remaining time is spent practicing independently at open sessions where he is always encouraged and coached by Euan Rogers when on the hill. On Friday evenings, he attends the Aberdeen Snowsports Club session where he is coached again by Logan.
To complement his snowboarding, Saul visits Transition Extreme once a week to skateboard, as well as skateboarding at outdoor spaces and using the garden ramp built by his father Marc during lockdown.
Describing his love for snowboarding, Saul said: “I like being able to go high off jumps, it makes me feel like I’m flying!
“It is lots of fun, you come along and get accepted and then learn some new tricks.
“Everyone is hyped up and builds each other up.
“Most of my school friends play football so it’s cool that I have a different hobby and I’ve made loads of friends through snowboarding.”
Only competing for the first time at 10 years old, Saul has won every competition he has entered in his age category and came in second in the under 16’s Brits rail JAM at the Cairngorm this past winter.
His favourite trick is a method and he loves doing rail sessions with the older guys at the hill. He can perform all four rotations up to 540 and recently learned back side 720’s.
A passion for snowboarding runs in the family, as Saul’s father Marc has been snowboarding for almost 35 years – having a huge influence on his son’s hunger for the sport.
Saul’s younger siblings Roman (9 years old) and Anayah (7 years old) also snowboard at Adventure Aberdeen Snowsports Centre.
Marc said: “The coaches Fraser and Logan put so much into Saul.
“He is like a little brother to them, they’re all buddies.”
“When youngsters like Saul are performing well at snowsports, they get instant access to grown-ups.”
“It’s a community here at the snowsports centre, everyone knows everyone.”
“Kat Benton is amazing too, she was the one who built the foundations for Saul, which was instrumental when he first started.
“She is always there for him and is kind, gracious and supportive – it really is a fantastic community down at the centre.”
Saul is fortunate enough to also receive coaching from Fin Bremner (one of the best Scottish snowboarders) periodically when he is in Aberdeen.
Always looking to the next big thing, Saul is now preparing for the Scottish triple crown dry slope freestyle events soon, starting in Aberdeen on June 25 and then further afield in Edinburgh (July 8) and Glasgow (July 23).
He then hopes to compete at European level in winter 2023. His all-time goal is to compete at the X-Games – described by his father as ‘the pinnacle of the sport’ and also one day get on the BOMBHOLE podcast.
Saul said: “My snowboarding idol is Mark McMorris, and it would be awesome to be sponsored and become a top pro in the world.”
If Saul’s story has inspired you to hit the slopes, then find out more about Sport Aberdeen’s snowboarding lessons here.
On Saturday 10 June, over 150 fundraisers gathered at the King’s Church to face their fears and raise money for good causes.
Fundraisers took on the 131ft high abseil off the side of the Northern Lights Tower and raised over £30,000 for various charities.
Organised by Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus (SBH) Scotland and operationally run on the day by Sport Aberdeen – this is the first time the event has taken place since Covid-19.
£22,500 alone was raised for SBH Scotland – a charity supporting families living with life-long complex disabilities in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.
Mike Gifford, Adventure Aberdeen Manager, said: “It was great to work alongside Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland (SBH Scotland) and Kings Church to bring this event to life.
“There was such a buzz on the day watching everyone face their fears and abseil off the 131ft high Northern Lights Tower.
“Well done to everyone taking part and raising over £30,000 for good causes.”
Lynsey Hamilton, Fundraising Manager for Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus (SBH) Scotland, said: “We are thrilled to have brought the Aberdeen Abseil back, it’s been a long time coming! A big thanks must go to Kings Church and the skilled team at Sport Aberdeen for helping us make it a reality!
“SBH Scotland provide a lifetime commitment of support and information to over 4,000 people across Scotland and more specifically the money our fundraisers have donated in this event will help us support around 300 people in Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire. A massive thank you to everyone who took part for us and to all those who donated.
“We’re also delighted to have welcomed many other charities who benefitted from the day including CHSS, Grampian MS, Scottish Cot Death and Brain Tumour Research who all had their own brave fundraisers taking to the skies.
We can’t wait to get a date again for next year now!”
If you fancy taking on the daring descent, then book your spot on the next abseil – Archie Abseil – taking place on Saturday 29 July.
The event is organised by The Archie Foundation and Sport Aberdeen, and costs £25 to take part. Register online here or email hello@archie.org for further information.
Above: Photos of participants abseiling
Sport Aberdeen’s Linx Ice Arena recently hosted the Aberdeen Linx Ice Skating Club Dance open competition on 29 and 30 May.
Ice skaters travelled from across the country to take part, with Alana Pang coming up from Sheffield to compete in the junior ladies category.
Alana said: “I love competing in Aberdeen every year because it is the qualifier for the British Championships and the community here in Aberdeen is lovely. I also enjoy seeing all the Aberdeen skaters.”
The marketing team from Sport Aberdeen got the chance to speak with three of the Aberdeen skaters on Monday morning.
28-year-old Alisa Benzie – who only started ice skating lessons when she was 23 – came 1st in the young adult pre-bronze pattern dance category earning 10.74 points, and this was her first solo dance competition.
Commenting on her love of ice skating, Alisa said: “I always wanted to ice skate as a kid, but I didn’t live near a rink so my Mum would always take me to Elgin and I’d go to a public skate session whilst she would do her shopping.
“Once I moved to Aberdeen and found adult lessons, I started going and within a week, I had my own ice skates and I’ve been coming ever since!”
Above: Alisa Benzie after achieving 1st place
Another skater Catherine Wright competed in the senior ladies category on Tuesday and remarked: “I absolutely love both skating and competing here in Aberdeen because the environment is so friendly and welcoming.
“I’ve been skating for 14 years now (since I was 10) and the thing that really drives me is that I feel so free on the ice.”
Catherine recently scooped gold at the adult nationals at Sheffield Ice Arena, competing in the highest competitive category for free dance and patterns sections – all whilst studying medicine at the University of Aberdeen.
The next competition she will compete in is the British Championships for solo ice dance later in the year.
Above: Catherine Wright during her performance
The final ice skater interviewed was Danielle Watson, who competed in the intermediate novice category and has been skating since she was 4 years old.
She said: “I’ve been raised with ice skating and it’s my whole life, I just love it so much.”
Above: Danielle Watson before competing
Congratulations to everyone who took part in the competition, and a huge well done to Ann Cronin, one of the coaches who is immensely dedicated to her students – travelling up and down the country for their competitions.
If you feel inspired and would like to find out more about how you could get your skates on and take to the ice, then visit the ice skating activity webpage here.
Above: Aberdeen ice skaters on Monday morning before competing