The Russell Anderson Foundation has expressed their appreciation to Johnston Carmichael Wealth who chose the organisation as their charity of the year for 2023/24.

Founder Russell Anderson said: "From the get go, the whole team at Johnston Carmichael got behind us and hosted events and fundraisers from bake sales and raffles, to collecting food donations and Easter Eggs for the families we support.

"Money raised like this throughout the year has a huge positive impact on the services we deliver within schools. It's a regular source of income and a whole company worth of people who know and share what we do, all helping raise awareness of the issues the children and schools we work with face daily."

Craig Hendry, Managing Director, Johnston Carmichael spoke of his experience of working with RAF their Charity Of The Year.

"The Russell Anderson Foundation was chosen as our Charity of the Year as we were looking to support local charities and one of the Team had experienced the great work done by RAF and hence nominated them.

"Our interaction with the Foundation was unbelievable over the period and the effort from CEO Graeme Burnett, Russell and the team to support us in all we were doing was fantastic.

"Seeing the impact of our efforts was rewarding and encouraged us to do more, all in all we felt very much invested in the Foundation."

Craig's sentiments were echoed by Russell who said: "We were delighted when JC Wealth chose The Russell Anderson Foundation as their charity of the year. The level of engagement and enthusiasm shown by the staff in their efforts to support our work was truly inspiring and we are extremely grateful for everything they did.

"We couldn't have asked for a more supportive partner, and it shows what can be achieved when you work together for the benefit of the local community."

Formed in 2012, the Russell Anderson Foundation began by delivering free football sessions to children in some of the more socially deprived areas of the city.

These days, what RAF does encompasses so much more than just football. The whole ethos of the Foundation is to empower children to make good decisions and give them a chance to reach their potential.

RAF works with over 2000 children on a weekly basis across its partner schools in the city and, although a large part of the work remains focused on health and well-being and being physically active, RAF also works with the schools in other areas to improve attainment levels and help with better outcomes for the pupils.

This includes practical cooking lessons, food support, mentoring programmes, workplace visits and employability opportunities to name some of the programmes RAF is currently delivering.