Following a successful application, award-winning charity Sport Aberdeen is delighted to receive £200,000 of funding from Aberdeen City Council through the Education Recovery Fund.

The fund’s purpose is to help Scotland’s education system positively respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and will provide support to both staff and learners in the sector.

Sport Aberdeen will use the funding secured to employ 12 Active Schools Assistants who will work in every school, both primary and secondary, across Aberdeen.

The Active Schools Assistants will deliver targeted programmes on a one-to-one basis or in small groups of pupils as identified by the school, with a responsibility to encourage young people to participate in free physical activity sessions and join extracurricular sports clubs. Each will play a key role in improving the health and wellbeing of local young people.

Councillor M. Tauqeer Malik, Education Operational Delivery Convener at Aberdeen City Council, said: “We are delighted to work in partnership with Sport Aberdeen to focus on increasing opportunities for our children & young people to engage in physical activity, responding to individual wellbeing needs and the impact of the pandemic.  This partnership working provides us with an opportunity to target support, increase engagement at focused times within the school day and build on the skills and experiences that Active Schools already provide within our settings.”

Graeme Dale, Head of Sport and Active Communities, said: “This is the first time we have been awarded funding through the Education Recovery Fund, so it is a real boost for us!

“By employing extra Active Schools Assistants throughout the city, we will be able to amplify our impact and help local children and young people in the community to realise and achieve their full potential. “We are confident that our ambitious programme of targeted support will make a tangible difference.”