Charity football match unites schoolchildren across the globe

A former Edinburgh Academy student has returned from Ghana ­following a life-changing fundraising campaign providing children with essential school supplies.

Sam Montague with Dugbatey Foundation children

Sam Montague, 21, is in his final year at The Robert Gordon University. He joined fellow RGU graduate ­Dugbatey Teye from Accra, Ghana, who formed The Dugbatey Foundation, for the trip last month.

It now has more than 85 volunteers and has embarked on life transforming campaigns to empower those less privileged in Ghana. With his classmates Dugbatey and Michael Robertson, Sam helped raise more than £4000 which provided 200 new desks and a range of school stationery for the village of Mfadwen in Ghana.

Streetsport, a national award-winning programme created by RGU, Denis Law Legacy Trust and Police Scotland, has also donated a batch of sport bags and Yes Ball Games T-shirts towards the cause.

Michael and his brother, Scott, who works for the Denis Law Trust, arranged football strips and footballs to be given to the local children, followed by a football match watched by 1000 people from the village.

Streetsport and the Dugbatey Foundation compete against each other from across the globe as schoolchildren in Aberdeen go head-to-head with those in Mfadwen, Accra.

Mark Williams, of the Denis Law Legacy Trust, said: “It was a privilege and delight for Streetsport to be asked to be involved in the campaign and we were more than happy to donate a variety of sports kit. Using two simple football games was an ingenious idea by the volunteers at both charities and enabled schoolchildren to compete and unite from across the globe, a great example of using sport for good.

“Huge credit must go to the Dugbatey Foundation for working tirelessly to reach their fundraising target. By doing so they’ve enhanced the lives of 2000 schoolchildren in Accra, a life-changing achievement and one they should be very proud of.”

Following the successful campaign, the Dugbatey Foundation team were gifted 80 acres of farmland which will be managed by the trio to allow employment in the village and develop their community.

Dugbatey said: “Sam, Michael and I started working on the fundraising campaign in 2019 after we met at university. Our belief is that every single individual deserves the chance to realise their full potential and by supplying essential educational supplies, we allow the local children to learn and feel empowered.

“We are incredibly ambitious with our plans and can’t thank those that have already supported us enough. Our next aim is to raise £10,000 to enable the build of much needed toilet facilities as well as the renovation of the school library.

“This will be carried out in August and we can’t wait to go back and start on the next stage of our project.”