On Christmas Eve the popular Aberdeen City Council Food and Fun project hosted its Christmas party at Sport Aberdeen’s Beach Leisure Centre for over 120 children.

The project which is supported by Sport Aberdeen, Aberdeen FC Community Trust (AFCCT), Community Food Initiative North East (CFINE) and Police Scotland, was originally initiated to combat ‘holiday hunger’. Holiday hunger is a serious problem for children who rely heavily on their daily free school lunches that are not available to them over school holidays.

The project ran successfully in the Summer and October holidays in the St Machar, Torry and Northfield areas of the city, with over 6,000 free meals provided over this time. Produce and ingredients were provided by CFINE and prepared by Aberdeen City Council’s Facilities Management School Catering Service and CFINE’s Cook at the Nook.

The Christmas party took place between 9.00am and 1.00pm and gave the children the chance to take part in multisport activities at the Beach Leisure Centre and ice skating at the Linx Ice Arena, provided by Sport Aberdeen’s Active Schools Team.

Present across all activities to assist Sport Aberdeen’s Active Schools Team were AFCCT coaches and volunteers from Aberdeen City Council’s Communities team.

After their activities, the children were then provided with a warm lunch served up by volunteers, including Sport Aberdeen Chairman Colin Taylor.

Commenting on his involvement, Colin said:

“Sport Aberdeen is delighted to be involved in the Food and Fun Project and hosting the Christmas Eve event. Christmas can be a challenging time for many families, so it is important that all partners involved in the project offer support where we can.

“It has been great to see so many smiling faces today and Sport Aberdeen are pleased to be able to provide each child with a Christmas present of a selection box and free family passes for use at our facilities across the city. These will allow families to have fun and enjoy being active together.”

At the end of the event, the children went home with a donated present from Sport Aberdeen and a food parcel courtesy of CFINE to last the children and their families through the festive period.