A Year in Review for Denis Law Legacy Trust

Denis Law Legacy Trust (DLLT) had yet another busy year delivering youth-led programmes, free to access community activities, impactful campaigns and projects that aim to empower young people to thrive and support communities to be closer, more active and safer.

As last year ended on a high with one of the trust’s volunteers being shortlisted for a BBC Sports personality of the year award and DLLT featuring at the Murray family’s successful Battle of the Brits tournament the team had plenty of momentum heading into 2023.

Denis Law Legacy Trust’s flagship programme, Streetsport is run in partnership with Robert Gordon University and across 2023 it saw the highest ever number of participations in a year made up from young people living in areas of disadvantage across Aberdeen.

One of Streetsport’s highlights was a new session in Kincorth. The area had seen high instances of youth annoyance being reported to the emergency services and since the new session started these instances have now dropped by 79%.

New sessions also launched at Bucksburn and Lochside Academy with the latter focusing on encouraging women and girls to take part in sport. The session was created and led by long time Streetsport participant and young volunteer Kelsey Sievwright who is currently on a yearlong placement with the charity. A great example of the charity supporting and giving young people a platform to thrive.

In addition, the charity’s CLUB 10 programme, which is supported by Families Outside and the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), launched ‘Game With Mum and Dad’ at HMP Grampian. The landmark event was part of a Children of Prisoners Europe (COPE) campaign where children got to play a game of football with their dad, mum, or caregiver, behind prison walls. CLUB 10 provided year round monthly external family fun activities and weekly in prison activities.

Work also began on a new upcoming programme, launching in April 2024. Supported by the Wood Foundation, this new programme will support young people through personal, professional and wellbeing development to help shape and achieve their future aspirations.

The Lord Provost of Aberdeen kicked off Volunteer Week unveiling Denis Law Legacy Trust’s Volunteer Friendly award plaque at their office space in Robert Gordon University which recognised the Trust’s commitment to supporting volunteering. The week also saw the charity’s first ever annual volunteer celebration which honoured the hard work of volunteers from across the charity’s fundraising and operational teams and saw the charity’s first ever C.O.O and Chair’s Gold pin badge awardees. This year’s recipients for their long-term support of the charity were Lynne Smith, Alan Anderson, Sandy Dunbar and Colin Lawson.

It was another summer to remember with plenty of free to access programmes and events for children and young people to enjoy, such as the Denis Law Legacy Trust Community Festival (including the ever-popular Sport di Strada) and two community fun days in Torry and Northfield which were organised in collaboration with local young people and saw over 1000 people attend across both days.

August saw the first ever Volunteer Transfer with Foundation 92. The exchange saw volunteers from Aberdeen and Salford switch places to experience new people, places and cultures.

The much-anticipated Cruyff Court Willie Miller broke ground in Tillydrone. The court is expected to be complete in Spring 2024 and is thanks to a successful partnership with Aberdeen City Council, The Cruyff Foundation and Denis Law Legacy Trust.

In terms of fundraising events, Denis Law Legacy Trust staples such as the Quiz night, Golf Outing and Annual Fundraising Dinner were all sold out and raised vital funds for the charity’s programmes and activities with the latter seeing the launch of the new limited edition Denis Law football.

Our operational staffing numbers grew and over the long term has seen a new full-time position added to the organisation every year for the last 7 years. DLLT welcomed Aimee Culley and Rhys Jones joining as Operations Coordinator and Community Coordinator, respectively. Two new Trustees, Gary Law and Keith Allan also joined the board of trustees to help give additional knowledge and support to the team.

Denis Law Legacy Trust’s youth forum, Granite City Speaks also grew with new members joining the forum. Some of their 2023 highlights include a successful clothing drive in local schools for Abernecessities, volunteering at the Aberdeen North Foodbank as part of an initiative to give back during the festive season, supporting our fundraising events and giving advice and guidance on issues young people face and how DLLT can be best placed to help support solutions to these issues.

Whilst DLLT’s real success is with supporting young people to thrive, the trust was also recognised at the Aberdeen Sport Awards, AGCC Northern star awards, Accredited by ACVO and acknowledged with a number of motions in the Scottish Parliament highlighting the impact our work has had. The charity also maintained their Carbon Neutral standing for a 2nd year in a row.

Denis Law Legacy Trust would like to take the opportunity to thank their sponsors, partners and supporters for their help in making 2023 such a memorable year. Thanks must also go to the charity’s participants, volunteers, coaches, trustees and staff without whom these fantastic events and sessions would not happen.

For more information on Denis Law Legacy Trust visit: https://www.denislawlegacytrust.org or stay tuned to their social media profiles on Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Linkedin and Tik Tok.