18-07-22

KR Group were delighted to present new football t-shirts to the children attending AFCCT’s Holiday Camp this year.

“As parents, Kenny and I have been heavily involved in many sport initiatives over the years,” explains KR Group Director, Nicola.

Kenny and Nicola founded Steel and Cladding company, KR Group in 2003. Known as ‘KR Steel’ at the time, the business was run from a home office in a small flat in Aberdeen with just a team of 5. KR Group, based in Newburgh, now employs 49 staff members, and has completed projects all over the UK. Despite this, they remain rooted and loyal to the Northeast of Scotland and invest heavily in supporting young people.

You will often find Kenny involved with a construction workshop at a school, or Nicola presenting at a DWY Careers seminar. They believe in giving the next generation a ‘step up’ and supporting them into careers. 18% of KR Group’s workforce is in ‘earn and learn’ roles such as Apprenticeships, Traineeships, and Internships. They regularly take school students in for work experience and also accept ‘Kickstart’ and other DWP placements to help people that have found themselves out of work.

Alongside this, Kenny and Nicola see value in supporting sport and wellbeing in young people. Nicola continues, “In another life, Kenny founded ‘Box 2 Box’, a football training enterprise held at the Sports Village each Saturday morning. He then went on to coach our sons’ school football teams as well as Elite, and Dyce Football Club. There is a lot to be said for the relationship between sport and physical and mental wellbeing. Any opportunity to promote teamwork and resilience is undoubtedly worth investing in.”

Currently, KR Group supports Dyce, Turriff, Montrose, and Huntly Football Clubs by sponsoring young players there. Recently, Kenny also attended the Aberdeen Football Club grounds to present new Holiday Camp strips to the young players.

Many of KR Group’s employees and their families have benefited from the Aberdeen Football Club Community Trust over the years so Kenny and Nicola were more than happy to support the charity by sponsoring their Holiday Camp t-shirts, as pictured. 

Aberdeen Football Club Community Trust (AFCCT) was established in 2014 and soon became an integral part of its local community, offering young people a place to feel safe and reach their full potential. They believe that through their initiatives, they can help improve the physical and mental wellbeing of young people and help tackle issues such as poverty and inequality.

The award-winning charitable organisation works with a wide range of ages groups and differing needs. It has supported more than 120 pupils to gain SQA qualifications through their 3 AFCCT Partner Academies. Throughout July and August, they are providing a Holiday Camp programme where children aged 5-12 can socialise, build confidence, and improve their football skills.