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The Cove Rangers FC Community Foundation was officially launched at Balmoral Stadium this lunchtime with the stated aim of helping and supporting families in the local area to live happier, healthier and longer lives.

Using the power of football, the charity plans to reach out to individuals and groups across Cove, Portlethen and South Aberdeen, and involve them in a series of projects.

Those will be focused on promoting participation in various activities and providing a range of projects designed to assist in the development of life skills.

One such scheme, ‘Men In Mind’, is already up and running and has proved popular for men struggling with mental health issues. The group has been meeting each Thursday evening at the stadium offering mentoring and peer-to-peer support.

The former leader of Aberdeen City Council, Jenny Laing, is CRCF chief executive. She says too many people locally are having to deal with hardships on a daily basis, something she hopes the charity will play a part in helping to alleviate:

“There are serious challenges out there. COVID, the cost of living crisis, social isolation; these have all had a serious bearing on the quality of life for so many, and those issues, and many more, are what we hope to tackle through the Foundation.

“Our vision is to harness the power of football, research has shown it to be an effective tool in engaging people, and we plan to make the most of that.

“The Foundation wants to promote equality and inclusion; lack of money should not be a barrier, we will ensure that our schemes and projects are open to all.”

“We will also be working closely with the SPFL Trust and engaging in nationwide schemes such as Football Fans In Training, which has already proved to be successful across the country.

“We are not trying to compete with existing Trusts in and around the city. We will work collaboratively with them; it is about offering additional resources and alternative projects, and we also hope to build partnerships with various bodies who can support the planned ventures.

“There is much hard work ahead, and we all look forward to getting out there into the community and doing what we can to help.

“The charity will require funding, so if there are any companies out there who would like to get involved, we would be delighted to hear from them.”

The Foundation will also build on existing partnerships with local schools, and a number of children attended today’s event, and got the chance to play on the Balmoral pitch.

Local businessman Robert Smith is chairman of the Foundation. He believes the charity can make a significant impact in the years ahead:

“The football club has been a huge success story over the past couple of decades, a big part of the local community, and the chairman, Keith Moorhouse, and his board have been keen to get the Foundation up and running for some time now.”

“We are delighted that has now happened, and we are all keen to get to work doing what we can for everyone in the area.

“If anyone thinks we can help them, or the organisation they represent, I would encourage them to get in touch. If we can help in any way, shape, or form anyone within this community, that will make our efforts worthwhile. Football has the capacity to do good and we will do our damnedness to do our bit here in our area of the city.”

The Foundation will inevitably have to rely on volunteers to carry out the various planned projects. If you think you can help out in any way, or feel the CRCF can support you, please contact info@crcf.org

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