Children from six local primary schools across Renfrewshire had an amazing morning of football and fun at a Tesco Bank Football Challenge on the hallowed turf at St Mirren Park as manager Danny Lennon and first team stars Darren McGregor, Jim Goodwin, Hugh Murray and Aaron Mooy paid a special visit to the 300 participants. The schools are the latest to have taken part in six weeks of coaching sessions as part of the Scottish FA’s flagship participation programme and are now coming together for a finale to remember. 

The Tesco Bank Football Challenge is a four-year community programme run in partnership with the Scottish FA. The project introduces football to Primary 2 and Primary 3 children (six to eight years old) across Scotland to help get them engaged in a healthy and active lifestyle. 

Now in its second year 900 boys and girls in the area have taken part, this year across ten schools. Overall, more than 36,000 children across Scotland will have been involved in the Tesco Bank Football Challenge by June 2012. 

Irene Pollock, Head Teacher at Arkleston Primary School said: 

"The children had a fantastic day. The programme fits in really well to the Curriculum for Excellence, but more than anything else gets the children active at the same time as having a lot of fun. I cannot recommend the programme highly enough." 

St Mirren manager Danny Lennon said: 

"It was brilliant to see the children have so much fun at the Tesco Bank Football Challenge. I think it is superb programme and I’m really pleased to support it. 

St Mirren Head of Community Gary Hocknull said: 

"At a time when participation is a big topic of discussion we are delighted to have the opportunity to get local kids involved in basic football activity through the Tesco Bank Football Challenge, which fits in entirely with the Scottish FA’s Scotland United 2020 strategy. The target to double the number of participants in football this year to 135,000 will be fantastically supported by programmes like this." 

Adele Mills, Community Investment Manager at Tesco Bank added: 

"We are delighted our football programme gives children and teachers in the area the opportunity to get active and learn new skills. It’s great to see the children having such a fantastic time."

In the first year of the programme 479 schools across Scotland’s 32 local authorities participated in the programme, involving 19,061 boys and girls. There were 74 regional festivals and over 1000 teachers and volunteers went through the Scottish FA’s in-service programme.

The primary schools attending the festival were: Arkleston Primary School, Kirklandneuk Primary School, St John Ogilvie Primary School, Todholm Primary School, Ralston Primary School, Williamsburgh Primary School.

Renfrewshire's Tesco Bank Football Challenge finished with a flourish as nearly 300 Primary 2 boys and girls participated in the Football Challenge Festival at St Mirren Park, Paisley.

The Festival held in partnership with the Scottish FA and Tesco Bank, focussed on lots of small sided games for the children taking part.

The Tesco Bank Football Challenge is a four year community programme run in partnership with the Scottish FA. The programme introduces football to Primary 2 and Primary 3 children (6-8 years old) across Scotland and gets them engaged in a healthy and active lifestyle.

Tesco Bank is investing over £1 million in the programme and will use the power of football to get 6 to 8-year-old children active. The aim is to reach 72,000 boys and girls of all levels and abilities in, at least, 1,600 primary schools across Scotland's 32 local authorities.

St Mirren manager Danny Lennon said:
"The Tesco Bank Football Challenge is integral to the development of the game in Scotland. It is not only about learning basic football skills but also about getting children involved in physical activity. I think that is fantastic that so many children from the Renfrewshire area have been given the chance to take part in an initiative that is beneficial for both the local community and Scottish football."

Benny Higgins, Tesco Bank Chief Executive commented:
"Tesco aims to make a positive contribution to Renfrewshire both in the way we do business and by supporting community initiatives. Football is central to this programme, acting as a vehicle for fitness and the development of both physical and social skills. Our aim is to see hundreds of boys and girls from across the region participating in football on a regular basis and having fun."

"Today rounds off a fantastic 6 weeks of Primary School football activity," said SFA Development Officer Gary Hocknull. "A huge thank you to our sponsors Tesco Bank for supporting what is a very important and popular programme within the schools."

Over 350 boys and girls participate in the Tesco Bank programme within the Renfrewshire area. St Mirren
Community and Scottish FA qualified coaches delivered football sessions in 10 Renfrewshire schools.
These included Glencoats Primary, St Fergus Primary, St Peter's Primary, Langcraigs Primary, Heriot Primary, Bushes Primary and St Paul's Primary, all in Paisley, as well as East Fulton Primary and Our Lady of Peace Primary, both in Linwood.