What's New
November 2024
Happy 16th Birthday Future Choices
It's November 2024 & we are celebrating our 16th Birthday.
Completely voluntary led, proud to be providing a vital lifeline to some of the most vulnerable adults within our community by breaking down those social isolation
barriers.
Future Choices is a team, every week providing that social setting for everyone involved to enjoy.
We are celebrating our Birthday by fundraising to continue our vital work, your support would mean so much.
Thank you
8th October 2024
We had STV News visiting us today, huge thanks to Reporter Gráinne Ní Ghréacháin for covering our group.
Huge huge sincere thank you to Kevin Stewart SNP MSP for mentioning our Saltire Summit Award Achiever Lucas Mackenzie's Achievement & Future Choices in the Scottish
Parliament last night during his Parliament Motion on volunteers week
To watch the piece, starts around 18.30
SUMMIT AWARD PRESENTATION
Very very proud moment today for our Saltire Awards Achiever, Lucas Mackenzie.
Lucas has completed his 500 hrs Saltire Awards last year & supported the work of the charity since starting his Saltire Awards journey, doing so much projects along
the way!
Lucas has grown so much from a young boy starting out volunteering in his local community to become a young man with vast life experience, leadership & management
skills along the way.
We couldn't be happier or more proud of Lucas as he was presented with a Summit Award by Lord Provost of Aberdeen , David Cameron & Mike Melvin from ACVO and
Volunteer Aberdeen .
For Lucas to be presented this award is a true honour & privilege & is a shining example to those around his age that hard work certainly pays off & helping
out in the community is very worthwhile.
Congratulations & Well done Lucas
SALTIRE AWARDS PRESENTATION
Alana Garden-Ross has today been presented with her 25hrs for volunteering.
Alana has become such an asset to the charity since joining, from fundraising to support another disabled charity to raising awareness of mental health as well as
attending our Tuesday group to support our vulnerable members.
Alana will also be fronting our participation for this years Celebrate Aberdeen Parade.
Alana is a real example of what young people can succeed & strive towards.
Alana you do yourself extremely proud with everything you do for the community & are a credit to yourself & everyone that has the pleasure of knowing
you.
Congratulations & well done Alana
Volunteers Week 3rd - 7th of june 2024
Kick-starting our week of celebrations & recognitions….
Chairman,
We, as a voluntary led charity in our 16th year are extremely proud to be still going strong but also grateful to be part of this national awareness
campaign.
Volunteers are the heartbeat of our group, from our incredible drivers, our regular volunteers, those that volunteer to support our cause away from our Tuesday
gatherings, the committee, without them, we really really couldn't carry on the vital work we do within the community.
There really is no amount of words we can say that will amplify how much our dedicated volunteers mean to us.
Thank you to our Saltire Awards Achievers, Zander Paul & Logan Paul for fronting our contribution to the national awareness platform.
You can watch their film below
Saturday 2nd June
Future Choices headed out to the Ellon Gala today & had an absolutely wonderful time & enjoyed the sunshine too.
It was lovely to chat to the visitors & tell them about what we do & the feedback was absolutely lovely especially hearing that we're completely voluntary led in
what we do within the local community.
A massive thank you to our management committee member Ryan Bannerman, who although is now not able to volunteer with as much as he used to (due to his work commitments)
is still promoting our cause wherever possible, for this we are extremely grateful & deeply appreciative of!
We want to thank the team at the Ellon Round Table for their support also, it's such a humbling moment where people get together & support a good cause,
special mention of thanks also going to Jim & Carol Henderson for all their help & support today, very much appreciated!
Wednesday 29th may 2024
‼️ BREAKING NEWS ‼️
Look what you, our wonderful supporters did for us, we are completely overwhelmed & so so grateful to everyone that took time to vote for us, means everything,
purely as we are completely voluntary led & rely heavily on the public's generosity to keep our group going.
30th April 2024
What an absolutely beautiful day had at the group today, another special session & we welcomed along Suzy the Lamb & her handler Christina from FARM STOP . An
absolutely beautiful animal which so many of us wanted to take her home with us, absolutely adorable
Safe to say the smiles on everyone's faces says it all!
More special sessions coming in the near future for everyone to enjoy
11th April 2024
What a lovely amount raised by the wonderful team at Park Inn By Radisson Aberdeen , thanks to everyone that supported the stall & enjoyed all the lovely cake bakes.
11th April 2024
Our
Saltire Awards Achiever, Alana Garden-Ross (L) had her first filming project yesterday as part of her volunteering experience. Tackling a subject very close to all of us, Mental Health, as we
gear up to Mental Health Awareness week, Alana is highlighting a very important social issue. Well done Alana, we can't wait to share all your hard work with the world!
Special
mention of thanks going to Rosa Maitland (R) for supporting Alana with her film, deeply appreciated
9th April 2024
Our Assistant Manager Zander Paul is appealing to you for newspapers, carrier bags & bubble wrap, these things we go through alot during the pop up shop. Your support would mean the world to us. Thank you!
9th April 2024
Managing
& running a day trip is no easy task especially when it's completely voluntary led, so every manager needs a deputy to help you keep logistics running as smoothly as possible, this job yesterday
to the Aquarium & Banff Springs Hotel fell to my committee member, Ryan Bannerman.
Ryan
absolutely excelled himself in all aspects of the trip from start to finish, from arranging various things with staff at both venues, to keeping an eye on timings to helping staff to serve 40 lunches
to a very hungry room.
Ryan has
already achieved his 500 hrs Saltire Awards & has shown that he's learnt a great deal of key life skills that has really earned the respect of his peers.
Well
done Ryan, congratulations, you did yourself extremely proud & shown that hard work can & does pay off by gaining experience
9th April 2024
We all
to often see stories of young people in a bad way, but what about those that really do care about helping out in their local community in their Easter holidays. Take our 2 young Saltire Awards
Achievers, Logan Paul & Zac Mackenzie, taking time out to help out our vulnerable members making sure they could safely get out & enjoy our special day trip. We are truly blessed as a local
voluntary charity to have Zac & Logan with us, both kind, caring & compassionate about helping others less fortunate than themselves. Well done lads, you should be extremely proud of
yourselves & flying the inspiring flag for your generation & your community!
Be more
Zac!
Be more
Logan!
9th April 2024
The day
may have been a dreich one BUT that didn't stop us from going away & enjoying ourselves on our special day trip to Macduff Marine Aquarium & then on for a spot of lunch at Banff Springs
Hotel , thoroughly enjoyed both venues, thanks to Bob out driver from Peace Coaches for making our travel experience great despite the horrible weather.
Everyone
had a super day away from our normal session which is what it's all about, a sincere thanks to the following...
Drivers,
Paul Dumont, Roy Angus, Peter Danielian, Gordon Reid.
Volunteers, Heather Williams, Diane Bannerman, Ryan Bannerman Dylan Williams, Zac Mackenzie, Zander Paul, Logan Paul, Linda Gallagher, Kara Isabella Shepherd, Jo Duthie, Andrew Walker,
Katherine Ferries, Somah Shepherd & Ean volunteers .
This
special day was only possible because of the support we get from so many people & we cannot thank you all enough - breaking down the barriers of social isolation for so many. Thank
you!
26th March 2024
Happy
Easter for Team Future Choices
We all
love a bit of chocolate
So to
say a huge thank you to our amazing volunteers & treat our members, our Easter Bunny Ean volunteers was on hand to help hand out eggs to the group.
26th March 2024
We had a
delightful visit today from the amazing team from Bobs Buddies , thank you for making our Easter session so special.
Sometimes words just cannot describe the joy sessions like these brings. Photos tell the story, our members & volunteers thoroughly enjoyed seeing the incredible & beautiful owls, even
learning a few things too!
18th March 2024 - 22nd March 2024
Huge
Congratulations to Logan Paul
Our
Saltire Awards Achiever, Logan Paul (15) did himself immensely proud this week.
For the
whole week, Logan has confidently delivered a visual slideshow presentation to the morning school assemblies.
Explaining to his audience, made up of pupils of all years & teachers, on why he volunteers for his local community & how it can help others less fortunate than him.
It is
absolutely no easy task to do public speaking to an audience of peers, regardless of age but Logan did it & we couldn't be prouder!
Without
a doubt Logan has gone from strength to strength since volunteering & really is an inspiring role model to anyone his age thinking of giving back to their local community!
Congratulations & very well done Logan Paul, everyone that knows you is extremely proud of what you have achieved
Huge
thank you to all the teachers at Northfield Academy, especially Mr Chalmers for all the support throughout the week, gratefully appreciated!
A
shining example of young people doing something empowering & amazing for their local community!
10th March 2024
SALTIRE
AWARDS PRESENTATION
A huge
well done & congratulations goes to our Committee Member & Saltire Awards Achiever Lewis McGregor for reaching his 500 hrs!!!
A
sincere thanks going to Mike Mills from the Altens Community Fire Station for presenting Lewis with his Certificate.
Reaching
500 hrs is a big achievement for anyone doing their Saltire Awards & Lewis has shown he's learnt alot of life skills & gained confidence in doing his volunteering. Giving up as much time he
can to not only support our disabled members but also supporting those struggling with food poverty by supporting the Tilly Community Flat Foodbank.
Lewis
you should be extremely proud of all that you have achieved through doing your Saltire Awards
1st March 2024
Our
Saltire Awards Achiever, Alana Garden-Ross took time out of her schedule to visit our friends at Shopmobility Aberdeen today to handover funds she had raised through selling Flash
Photography Aberdeen vouchers at the end of last year, Shopmobility have always been there for us when providing us with mobility equipment for the annual Celebrate Aberdeen & as we
celebrated our 15th Anniversary, we wanted to do something lovely for them.
Alana
very proudly handed over £150 to them to help them carry on the vital work they do in the community.
Congratulations & well done Alana for all your hard work & we know you'll continue to do yourself proud as you continue through your Saltire Awards.
Charity
supporting Charity
27th February 2024
Such a lovely gesture, huge thanks to Ellon Round Table
21st December 2023
THANK YOU THANK YOU
The
Management Committee (Including Ryan Bannerman & Wendy Ashton, absent from the photo), would sincerely like to wish everyone that supports us a very merry christmas & a happy new year.
The
support the charity has received from the local community has been utterly mind-blowing in every way especially with us celebrating our 15th Anniversary!
We wish
to send our deepest heartfelt thanks to our incredible volunteer team including our dedicated drivers which keeps our sessions running.
Special
mention of thanks going to Paul O Connor MBE & his team at Inchgarth Community Centre for their continued support, truly means alot.
We
cannot thank you all enough from the bottom of our hearts - our donors & everyone who supports Future Choices
We look
forward to taking a much deserved break & return to our regular weekly sessions from Tues 9th Jan '24.
Hopes
for the new year, to attract new members to continue to help the most vulnerable break down the barriers of social isolation, to help them improve their mental health & well being.
Looking
forward to seeing the feature film about the charity being released by the amazing team from Inner Ring Collective
1st June 2023
27th November 2022
SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD Tonight was extra special for one of our longest serving members of our dedicated
volunteering team, our Secretary Lesley Anne Bremner.
Lesley has been with the charity since the beginning so tonight at our birthday
celebration event, we wanted to recognise Lesley for all her outstanding contribution to the charity.
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO COMMUNITY, VOLUNTEERING & FUNDRAISING
Richly deserved for all the hard work Lesley has put in throughout all these
years.
CONGRATULATIONS Lesley 
26th November 2022
Happy 14th Birthday What an incredible night we all had at The Ashvale, raising funds & celebrating our
14th Anniversary!
Big well done & congratulations to our Saltire Awards Achiever/Committee Member,
Lewis McGregor for organising & hosting our event. You did yourself extremely proud! Big thanks to Stuart & his staff team at the Ashvale, incredible as always. Special mention of thanks to
our supporter Sophie Alexander for doing an amazing job on our raffle sales desk 
Huge thanks though to everyone who was able to attend, you all made the night what it
was, a big success, full of fun & laughter, we would like to say a huge massive thank you to all those that donated raffle prizes as we raised as incredible £461 from Raffles alone and the profit
we raised from ticket sales alone was £513 - bringing our total fundraising amount on the night too......
£974!!!!!
£974!!!!!We cannot thank everyone enough from the bottoms of our hearts for making our 14th
birthday special. 
22nd November 2022
itison Aberdeen delivers yet again, more joy & happiness spread. Our Committee Member Lewis presenting our dedicated volunteer driver Gordon with a lovely
treat.
Our ongoing partnership with Itison is truly humbling as it allows us to give something
wonderful & special back to some of our team.
15th November 2022
A wonderful day trip out today, Committee Member Ryan Bannerman & our Chairman
taking a trip to a special Exhibition showcased by ACVO and Volunteer Aberdeen which you the public can go & visit tomorrow & Thursday at the Citymoves Dance Agency, The Anatomy Rooms, Shoe
Lane, Aberdeen, AB10 1AL where amongst other amazing charities, you can learn more about what work we do within the local community, made possible by the Scottish Government's Mental health &
Well Being fund which is distributed to Third Sector Organisations, like ours.
It was a true honour & pleasure to have attended to showcase what vital work we
do.
1st November 2022
Another beautifully generous voucher given by the incredible team at itison Aberdeen for afternoon tea at the Ardoe house.
Given to committee member Elizabeth Wood & her husband, who supports the charity in
any way he can.
Elizabeth will gain some lovely respite from this experience.
We are extremely grateful to It is on for their continued partnership & support, it
really does mean alot.
We look forward to being in a position to give more vouchers to some more of our
members in the near future.
31st October 2022
Beyond proud of both Lucas & Zac Mackenzie!
25th October 2022
It was the first time for Zander & Logan Paul to attend the group session due to
not being at school & what better time to present them both with much deserved Saltire Awards Certificates. Our Committee Member Ryan Bannerman presented both Zander & Logan with their 10
& 25 hrs.
This was in recognition with the amazing support both lads gave during our charity pop
up shop in August & both working together on our Website.
We cannot thank Zander & Logan enough for all the help & support they give to
our cause.
You both should be incredibly proud of yourselves for showing the world what good
things young people do for their local community.
12th October 2022
Future Choices loves to spread the joy as much as possible & when we can, another
lovely Voucher from the awesome team at itison Aberdeen going to one of our amazing & dedicated volunteers, Roy Angus, our committee member Lewis was on hand to present Roy with his voucher.
Our partnership with It Is On is simply priceless & so incredibly appreciated by
everyone involved.
11th October 2022
We welcomed STV News's Haley Bouma & her cameraman Graeme along to today's session
to feature what the charity does.
Future Choices are looking for new members to be able to help gain vital social
inclusion.
We were very greatful too have STV News along to share what we do, big thanks to Lesley
Anne Bremner, Maureen Irons & Jim & Kathleen Rust for going on camera for interview.
You can tune in to STV News at 6pm 
7th October 2022
Our Saltire Awards Achievers are always inspiring us with what they are actively doing
within their community & that's the same for our youngest volunteer, Zac Mackenzie (12), please follow his dedicated page as he aims to raise as much funds as possible through texting via your
Zac is someone who we are lucky to have on our team as he's so enthusiastic &
energised to help support our cause, something we are truly blessed to have. We hope you can share Zac's page to your contacts. Thank you
6th October 2022
We can finally announce this news that both Ryan & Chairman/Mentor have been
working on for months & now we can finally share in the joy & excitement with you all!
Earlier this Year, David (Chairman/Mentor) nominated our Saltire Awards
Achiever/Committee Member, Ryan Bannerman for a very special nomination.
TV host Ben Shepherd was on the search to find individuals within the community that
have gone above & beyond to help support their community, also through the pandemic & to showcase those people that have truly shined in their field.
Ryan met with Ben on zoom so that Ben could hear about all his community work &
achievements & Ben & his team were hugely impressed!
At the current age of 16 years old, what Ryan Bannerman has achieved since volunteering
from the age of 12 doing his Saltire Awards is nothing but sheer inspiration to his generation.
Ryan has proudly flown the flag not only for his friends but for our cause too.
Ladies & Gentlemen, Team Future Choices wish to SHOUT from the rooftops a HUGE
MASSIVE WELL DONE & CONGRATULATIONS to Ryan, what a true inspiration, legacy & achievement to be involved in this project produced by Ben Shepherd & his team.
To get a copy of the book, featuring other individuals including Ryan, & have the
book signed by Ben Shepherd, please follow the link,
4th October 2022
Team Future Choices are extremely grateful for the continued support we get from the
partnership we have with the generous team at itison Aberdeen .
Another lovely Voucher, this time going to 2 of our wonderful members, Elizabeth &
Graham who were absolutely over the moon to receive the voucher for High Tea for 2.
We do what we do at Future Choices because we simply want to make a difference to
people's lives within the community.
1st October 2022
We rely heavily & purely on the skills that our
dedicated volunteers have & we are extremely blessed to have so many awesome people on our team to help keep our group going.
One part of that process is our charity website being updated & worked on, &
that's where Zander Paul (16) & Logan Paul (14) step forward, aside from volunteering their time to fundraise for our cause via https://www.facebook.com/helpZanderandLoganfundraise
But they are also working together to update our website for those who are not on
social media.
A MASSIVE MASSIVE thank you to both Zander & Logan for giving up their time when
not busy at school & other things to help with keeping our website going, it's very much appreciated!
Thursday 29th september 2022
We are extremely grateful to itison Aberdeen for their continued support for our cause. This support partnership allows us to not only reward our volunteers who do us proud with what they do but
also allows us to treat our members also.
Our latest voucher presented to Jim & Kathleen Rust by our Committee Member Moira
Henderson allows the couple to enjoy a lovely Sunday Roast together.
It's this kind of partnership that is wonderful to have, which makes volunteering ever
so rewarding so that others can benefit. 
Thursday 29th september 2022
Very proud of our Saltire Awards Achievers & brothers, Zac & Lucas Mackenzie.
Please help support them if you can
Thursday 29th September 2022
Zander & Logan Paul have joined Future Choices to do all they can to help support
our cause, they are also doing their Saltire Awards in the process & are launching a fundraising effort together.
Do you have any unwanted mobile phones or Jewellery? If so, please get in touch &
we can get a FREEPOST label sent to you so you can post your items to Recycling For Good Causes so Future Choices benefits from them with ££££
Please share our page with your contacts, many thanks!
Thursday 29th September 2022
CONGRATULATIONS LEWIS MCGREGOR Tonight at the Celebrate Aberdeen Awards, Lewis McGregor won the award for "young Supporter of The Year. Congratulations to the other 2 finalists, as it was a very tough category with
so many inspiring stories.
Well done & congratulations Lewis, you not only did yourself proud but the
community you support are also proud of you too.
Thursday 29th September 2022
BECAUSE OF YOUR SUPPORT....
We're returning to Panto this year!!!!!
Oh yes we are 
!!!!
!!!!After the pause due to Covid, we are so blessed & excited to be taking some of our
team to see this year's panto.
Isn't just a wonderful social event for everyone, to get together & have a laugh
with friends - priceless!
Tuesday 1st June 2021
NATIONAL VOLUNTEERS WEEK 2021
Monday 31st May 2021
‼️ Laws Tyres‼️
Here's a really good way to help support our cause if you happen to be in the Bridge of Don or Altens branch (only in the month of June 2021)
Check out the following photos below, the golden poster gives you the chance also to win goodies!
Make sure you use the correct hashtag & if you would be so kind to select Future Choices, we could get £5, imagine if lots of people did this, it would be so amazing.
So visit the branch, take a photo of the poster, post it on your social media platform(s), use the # (see poster for the hashtag name) & select Future Choices.
Thank you very much in advance.
Saturday 29th May 2021
? SPECIAL PRESENTATION ?
We're absolutely thrilled & delighted for our Saltire Awards Achiever Volunteer, Lucas Mackenzie, who despite the challenges of lockdown, launched an Online Shopping Fundraiser in order to do his part to keep supporting our vulnerable members, which since it's humble beginnings last year has now turned into a great success story so far.
Congratulations to Lucas on being nominated & recognised through The Sunday Mail, Young Scot Awards 2021 for contributions made to his Community.
What a great achievement, just as we enter the National Volunteers Week & Power of Youth Day!
Tuesday 25th May 2021
We need as many nominations as possible to get the opportunity to win 1k
Follow this link : https://www.movementforgood.com/index.php?cn=SC040085&ct=disability
Closing date for nominations is Sunday 13th June 2021
Thursday 20th May 2021
Please check out this page: https://www.facebook.com/KingJCompetitions/
Tuesday 11th May 2021
It's an extremely proud moment to be announcing that our saltire awards achiever, Ryan Hammell first public appeal film has landed. Ryan, like all the young ones has had many challenges to overcome especially with schooling due to the pandemic, so aside from that challenge, Ryan has stepped forward to gain his Saltire Awards, which will benefit him greatly in terms of learning life skills & much more & he's motivated to support his sister Becca by supporting the Care Packages project. I'm sure I speak on behalf of everyone that knows Ryan, that we all send him our congratulations & continued best wishes. You should be very proud of yourself young man.
Tuesday 20th Apr 2021
Monday 19th Apr 2021
A highlight of Ryan & Lucas's visit to theCare Hub Aberdeen.
Sunday 18th Apr 2021
Chairman:
It's a true honour & pleasure to award
volunteer Lucas Mackenzie (14) with his 100 hours Saltire Awards.
Since Lucas started volunteering with Future
Choices, he has gone from a quiet shy lad to a very confident person, showing true qualities such as compassion, understanding & youth leadership along the way.
Since the pandemic started, Lucas launched an
Online Shopping Fundraiser & it's gone from strength to strength.
Lucas will now strive to achieve his 200 hrs
& will no doubt inspire his generation & more.
A huge well done, thoroughly deserved achievement
& congratulations to Lucas.
Saturday 17th Apr 2021
** Cheque Presentation **
Volunteers Lucas Mackenzie (14) & Ryan
Bannerman (15) paid a long awaited (due to covid restrictions) visit to the incredible team at The Care Hub, Aberdeen where they were delighted to present a cheque for £300 they jointly managed
to raise during the last few months. The money will go directly to supporting the most vulnerable within our community. Well done & huge congratulations on your achievements lads, you've done
yourselves & the community proud! Both Ryan & Lucas did a stint of volunteering also.
What an achievement & an inspiration to
all
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