Friend of EduSport Co Founder Fiona Campbell was part of a UK Sport IDEALS project that hosted a Ceilidh for the first time in 2006. Five years later and it is evident that the UK Sport IDEALS project has created a lasting legacy! Students from Stirling University who have recently returned from the Zambia project decided to take this year’s fundraising events to a new level. The 5 year long tradition of Stirling students holding a ceilidh to support their projects in Zambia was this year expanded, due to the hard work of Hayley Barr, Andrew Jenkin, Caitlin Thomson, Gillian McKenzie and Jenny Tatterstall.

It was time for the beginning of a new tradition. The alumni were set up in teams based on their placement whilst in Zambia, Sport in Action or EduSport in both netball and football. Part of the funds raised from the daytime activities is being donated to support education and sport projects being delivered in Zambia over the coming months. Furthermore this inspiring group of IDEALS alumni are also working closely with Friend of EduSport to deliver December 4ths Development Day to provide a further platform for additional volunteers and alumni to stay involved with projects in Zambia.  

  The morning saw a well contested game of netball, with Sport in Action taking an early lead and closing the 1st quarter 6-1 up, with a few changes EduSport began to pull back and at half time score was 9 – 6.  The slow start from EduSport was quickly turned around in the second half and thanks to the hard work from the team and an excellent display of shooting skills the final score was 17 – 12 to EduSport. It was excellent to see every year of the IDEALS project to date represented on the court. There were many incredible performances on the court but a special mention must go to Caitlin Thomson for an incredible performance after starting the game as referee.

After an excellent buffet lunch it was time for the much awaited football match to commence. Once again an excellent turn out from across the years, with a mixture of boys and girls, old and young on both teams. Paul Williams took to the whistle and took control of a ‘closely’ contested game. Sport in Action, with what appeared to be the ‘counter attacking’ team took an early lead thanks to the speed in attacking areas and despite a spell of pressure from the EduSport team pulling it back to 2-1 after the break strength of Sport in Action was evident as they ran out winners with the final score being 6-1. It is worth mentioning the goal of the game came from a free kick from FOE director Derek Keir, excellently placed in the top corner of the net.

At the end of the sporting festivities it was time to wrap on the Kilts and dresses and take to the dance floor, along with those that had been involved in the day’s events we were joined by many more friends, colleagues and guests. The evening was opened with the traditional sound of bag pipes played by one of the 2011 Stirling students, then came the band, hours of ‘dancing’, brief presentation of speeches, trophies from the netball and football matches, a number of sporting challenges and an excellent raffle which could have kitted the whole Scottish Commonwealth team.
Although the event was a great success as a fundraiser, the most important outcome for the day was the huge number of people that ‘chose’ to return. The room was full of wonderful memories and some incredible plans for the future. We at Friend of Edusport are excited by the ideas of the recently returning students and only hope, that for some the day was the beginning of a long lasting relationship supporting the wonderful young people of Zambia and beyond.