Active News SPORT ABERDEEN | Edition #7 | Autumn 2018
CREATING OPPORTUNITIES, INSPIRING PEOPLE AND CHANGING LIVES THROUGH SPORT AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY.
Introduction : Active News
Table of contents 2 - 3
INTRODUCTION
SPOTLIGHT 4 - 5 The Five P’s
INSIGHT 6
Managing Director Insight
7 Local sporting talents have been recognised at Aberdeen’s Sports Awards 2018
CASE STUDY
8 Funding boost for wellbeing of Aberdeen’s care experienced young people
NEWS 9
The North East’s first multi-sport programme for aspiring athletes
10 - 11
MOMENTS
Back page
Meet the team
W
elcome to the Autumn 2018 edition of Active News, Sport Aberdeen’s quarterly newsletter. The autumn edition will give you an insight into the significant programme of capital investment at the MacKenzie Championship Course at Hazlehead Park and provide the inside scoop on a member of Sport Aberdeen’s board, as well as our recent award successes, the winners from Aberdeen’s Sports Awards 2018 and welcoming Adventure Aberdeen and Aberdeen Snowsports to the Sport Aberdeen team. The spotlight turns to the 5 ‘P’s from changing our phone number to the top primary school runners crowned champion of champions at the Active Schools Fun Run finals. Find out why we are pledging support to the Armed Forces that ensures servicemen and women and their families will not be left disadvantaged because of their service. Looking ahead, we have an action packed autumn/winter to look forward to including the launch of Get active @ Sheddocksley, Get active @ Lochside, the Christmas Ice Show and the opening of entries for BHGE 10K 2019. I hope this edition is a motivational reflection on what has been a very active and successful summer and the diverse nature of our achievements truly shows why there are #naeexcuses not to get active in Aberdeen!
Warm Regards Editor Active News
DATES FOR THE DIARY October 2018 17th Entries open for BHGE 10K 2019 28th Adventure Aberdeen Charlie House Event 30th Get active @ Lochside launch November 2018 3rd Aberdeen Snowsports Winter Festival 5th Opening of functional room at
Lauren Strachan Communications Lead
Beach Leisure Centre 5th Get active @ Sheddocksley launch
December 2018 8th Christmas Ice Show
If you’re interested in signing up, or would like to know more about anything in this newsletter, or to work with us to enable more people to become active in Aberdeen, get in touch by emailing marketingteam@sportaberdeen.co.uk
THE FIVE P’s SPORT ABERDEEN IS COMMITTED TO: CREATING OPPORTUNITIES, INSPIRING PEOPLE AND CHANGING LIVES THROUGH SPORT AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY.
PEOPLE Sport Aberdeen signs Covenant Pledging Support to Armed Forces Members of Sport Aberdeen’s board of directors marked National Reserves Day by signing the Armed Forces Covenant The Covenant honours an agreement between the Armed Forces and Sport Aberdeen that ensures servicemen and women and their families will not be left disadvantaged because of their service. Chairman, Colin Taylor signed the Covenant at Broadfold House with Lt Colonel Matthew Sheldrick, 51 [Highland] 7th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, Lt Colonel Geraint M Davies, Alistair Robertson, Managing Director, Alan Forsyth, Chair of HR & OD Committee and Head of HR & OD, Nickie Scorgie. After the signing Lt Colonel Matthew Sheldrick said: “Signing the Armed Forces Covenant is a pledge that together we acknowledge and understand that those who serve or who have served in the Armed Forces, and their families, should be treated with fairness and respect in the communities, economy and society they serve with their lives. “I am delighted to be signing this Covenant with Sport Aberdeen in recognition of the support they provide to our Armed Forces personnel and their family members.”
04 | Sport Aberdeen Active News
PLACE Sport Aberdeen unveil £200,000 investment to city’s championship golf course Sport Aberdeen is pleased to announce that it will be undertaking a significant programme of capital investment at the MacKenzie Championship Course at Hazlehead Park, the only public Championship course in the North East of Scotland. Sport Aberdeen, which manages the course on behalf of Aberdeen City Council, is investing over £200,000 in improvements to the golf course, which will focus on addressing underlying drainage and associated water logging issues on key areas of the course, as identified by an independent drainage consultant. Improvement work will commence on 16 July 2018 with work expected to take around 10 weeks. There will be no public access to the course until the commencement of the new golf season in April 2019, to help maintain the longer-term integrity of the course. Colin Taylor, Chairman of Sport Aberdeen said: “The capital works represent a significant investment by Sport Aberdeen to enhance the playability and conditioning of the course, which will reduce days lost as a result of bad weather. “We fully appreciate the inconvenience that this improvement work will cause, but it is important that we protect the investment we are making and allow the ground in the affected areas to recover and for new growth to bed in. “We are pleased to be working in partnership with Hazlehead Golf Club on this project to maintain the integrity of this iconic golf course, which will strengthen our golf offering and signify our commitment to investing in the sport and leisure facilities within the city.”
Spotlight : The five Ps
PARTICIPATION
PARTNERSHIP
Top primary school runners crowned Champion of Champions at Fun Run finals
Sport Aberdeen and BHGE celebrate winning partnership at first Celebrate Aberdeen Awards
Hundreds of children have enjoyed being active through participating in Sport Aberdeen’s biggest ever Active Schools Fun Run Series, which culminated with the Champion of Champions event on Wednesday 13 June. The Fun Run Series is spread across the city in 6 venues to encourage more children to take part, with each venue running one event a week over a fourweek period since April.
Sport Aberdeen and Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE) struck gold as they took home the Corporate Partnership of the Year award at the first Celebrate Aberdeen Awards, held at the AECC on Saturday 8 September.
The 2018 Fun Run Series saw 786 children from across the city taking part, which is a considerable increase from 585 the previous year.
The award recognises the ongoing partnership between the two companies, which was formed in 2010 when Sport Aberdeen took over the annual City of Aberdeen 10K, now the BHGE 10K Running Festival.
The Champion of Champions event gathered the fastest runners from each of the venues to compete against each other in a final head-to-head race at the Harlaw playing fields. The races were split by age, from P4 through P7 of which the youngest took part in an 800m dash whilst the eldest ran 1,600m.
The partnership benefits Sport Aberdeen through BHGE’s provision of support, not only as the title sponsor – without which the event could not be delivered - but also through adding value to the organising committee, providing a large number of volunteers who carry out key tasks and acting as champions amongst their own workforce encouraging race entries and raising the profile of the corporate challenge.
This year’s winners were: Sophie Imlach (P4), Alexander Okolo (P4) , Sofia Kovaleva-Torres (P5), Caelan Forman (P5), Abby Farquhar (P6), Dylan Pearson (P6), Molly Evans (P7) Alex Smith (P7).
Sport Aberdeen also benefit from BHGE’s specialist knowledge and skills sets from working globally in a corporate culture, which is very different to Sport Aberdeen’s usual working environment as a third sector company.
Sport Aberdeen’s Senior Development Manager (Young People) Graeme Dale, said:
Both companies believe it is important to support the communities in which we are present, demonstrated through our long standing commitment to the BHGE 10K Running Festival which the partnership has developed, grown and established as one of the top community events in Aberdeen.
“The Fun Run Series has been a great success, with a big increase in the number of participants taking part this year. For many participants this was their first time and it is brilliant to see their progression as they get faster and grow in confidence. The Champion of Champion event was hugely successful and showed the large amount of talented young runners we have in the city.” Participating venues were Bridge of Don, Bucksburn, Cults, Harlaw, Sheddocksley and Kingswells with children from surrounding school taking part at their nearest venue. The series of events were arranged and organised by Active Schools Coordinators with the help of teachers and secondary school pupils.
A spokesperson for BHGE said: “We are proud to support Sport Aberdeen in the wonderful work they do to make sport and physical activity accessible to everyone in our local community. It is wonderful to be recognised for the achievements both companies have made through our partnership.”
PROCESSES Sport Aberdeen changes to local telephone number On 1 August 2018, we replaced the old 0845 601 3611 main switchboard number with a new 01224 507744 telephone number to reduce or remove the call cost for Sport Aberdeen customers. The switch complied with Cabinet Office and Scottish Government directives that public sector organisations must have a contact number that is included in consumer call packages and must cost no more than a local call. The money saved from changing from the old 0845 telephone number to the new 01224 telephone number will be invested back into Sport Aberdeen facilities and programmes. Taking this opportunity, we would kindly ask you to update your contact information if you haven’t done so already, and we thank you for the support that you have given Sport Aberdeen over the years.
Sport Aberdeen Active News | 05
MANAGING DIRECTOR INSIGHT As the company approaches the annual general meeting I want to shine a light on our Board of Directors. In total we have 10 Trustees as they are known and their job is to oversee the wellbeing of our charity and ensuring that it is well governed, financially stable and a well manged organisation.
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id you know that they are all volunteers and don’t get paid anything for undertaking this role? Yes that’s correct the Board has responsibility along with the Senior Leadership Team for managing a £13m business and we get all the Trustees help for free! We get fantastic advice, insight and support with running Sport Aberdeen from people whose only motivation is to give something back to the City. We are so lucky to have this back up, particularly given the CV’s that many of our trustees have, as we simply could not afford to buy this experience and expertise. The Board also provides a critical challenge, particularly to me, in the form of scrutinising how I am directing Sport Aberdeen and how we use our resources and spend money, along with ensuring that we are meeting our responsibilities to the City Council and complying with the highest standards of good practice. This last point is covered under ‘governance’, which is really what the role of the Board is: to ‘govern’ the charity and all it does. To do this, we have a number of Board meetings as well as sub committees and that is where business is examined in greater detail, with trustees providing professional opinion, ideas and a general checking through that ideas and activities are being planned, developed and implemented appropriately. Many of our Trustees go above and beyond and have fully integrated themselves in to Sport Aberdeen and will be seen at many events and functions as well as dropping into HQ and our facilities to see close up what we do. Next time you see one, go up and introduce yourself and welcome them. They are always pleased to meet staff, particularly those that don’t normally get to attend meetings. In this edition we profile Alan Forsyth and if you want to know who our other trustees are, have a look on the website www.sportaberdeen.co.uk/our-board. They are a great bunch and we thank them all.
06 | Sport Aberdeen Active News
LOCAL SPORTING TALENTS HAVE BEEN RECOGNISED AT ABERDEEN’S SPORTS AWARDS 2018. Now in their 25th year, the awards organised by the Active Aberdeen Partnership, recognised the wealth of sporting achievements and contributions made by local athletes, volunteers, clubs and community projects who encourage individuals to be active in Aberdeen. More than 390 people attended the event at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre on Thursday 4 October, which saw 17 awards presented and over £2,500 raised for beneficiary ClubSport Aberdeen, a new and vibrant body that provides a unified voice for sports clubs in Aberdeen. Entertainment for the evening was provided by the Beacon Rhythmic Gymnastics Club and guest speakers, fourteen year old Aimee Work, Active Girls Committee Chairperson and Robert Wicks, Commercial Director at Aberdeen Football Club. The winners in the 17 categories were as follows:
Lifetime Achievement Sue Morgan
Adult Volunteer of the Year Ronnie Kain
Primary School of the Year Seaton Primary School
Inspiration Award Dean Stott
Junior Volunteer of the Year Rebekah Singer
Secondary School of the Year Bridge of Don Academy
Adult Sports Achiever of the Year Zoey Clark
Adult Coach of the Year Eddie McKenna
Junior Sports Achiever of the Year Kirsty Muir
Junior Coach of the Year Matthew Scott
Community Partner of the Year – Business John Clark Motor Group
Student Sports Achiever of the Year Kim Beattie
Club of the Year Grampian Flyers Basketball Club
Disability Sports Achiever of the Year Conner Morrison
Team Performance of the Year Aberdeen Sports Village Table Tennis Academy
Disability Junior Sports Achiever of the Year Toni Shaw
Community Sports Project of the Year Food and Fun
In Recognition of Outstanding Commitment 1993 - 2018 Dave Macdermid
Sport Aberdeen Active News | 07
CASE STUDY FUNDING BOOST FOR WELLBEING OF ABERDEEN’S CARE EXPERIENCED YOUNG PEOPLE
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oung people with experience of the care system in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire will be given opportunities to become more creative and active thanks to a funding award of £150,000 from Scottish charity, the Life Changes Trust. Working in partnership, Aberdeen Foyer and Sport Aberdeen will use the funding to engage more care experienced young people in sports and creative activities. The aim of the project is to develop the skill sets of the young people involved, to improve their confidence, physical and mental wellbeing, relationship skills and their longterm quality of life. Participants in the project will be given opportunities to get involved in activities that matter to them, such as sport, music, drama, art and media. Sport Aberdeen’s Looked After Project will continue to use sport and physical activity as a vehicle to improve the lives of looked after children and young people. Current activities include skateboarding, boxing, horse riding, swimming lessons, ice skating, climbing, snowboarding, skiing and athletics. Aberdeen Foyer will offer creative activities such as creative writing, painting, craft work, graffiti art, lino printing, hand casting, jewellery making and cooking. Keith Gerrard, Director of Active and Healthy Communities said:
“We are absolutely delighted to have been awarded this funding from the Life Changes Trust as it will enable the Looked After Project to work with more looked after
children and young people. The partnership with Aberdeen Foyer is very exciting as it will allow both organisations to share experience and learn from each other. We’re already seeing the positive impact the Looked After Project is having, so it is great to be able to expand the project and help to increase the number of looked after children and young people achieving positive destinations.”
Both Sport Aberdeen and Aberdeen Foyer already have experience of working with young people who are care experienced and have witnessed the positive effects when they try new things and experience positive opportunities that enable them to discover what they are good at, grow their confidence and feel good about themselves. Kathleen Singer, Operations Manager at Aberdeen Foyer said: “Aberdeen Foyer is absolutely delighted to be working in partnership with Sport Aberdeen to engage with care experienced young people and make a difference together through the funding awarded by Life Changes Trust. “Aberdeen Foyer is guided by the belief that it is a young person’s unique strengths and capabilities that will determine their journey and define who they are – not their limitations and our values align very well with those of Sport Aberdeen. Both organisations want to enable young people to feel ‘I can’.”
The funding award is one of fourteen made by the Life Changes Trust under the banner of ‘Creative and Active Lives’, with a funding total of £1.75 million.
THE NORTH EAST’S FIRST MULTI-SPORT PROGRAMME FOR ASPIRING ATHLETES
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artners from Aberdeen City and Shire have come together to launch the North East’s first multisport initiative dedicated to the next generation of sporting stars.
The Athlete Development Programme (ADP) is a support programme that will sit at a level below the sportscotland Institute of Sport (SIS), which provides high-performance leadership and expertise to sports and athletes throughout Scotland and the UK. Introduced to help support promising athletes make the step up into performance sport and make the transition into SIS more streamlined and achievable, the ADP will offer athletes support through weekly physical preparation sessions, along with workshops in performance lifestyle, media training, nutrition and psychology. There will also be the opportunity to access an athlete mentor. Led by Sport Aberdeen and SIS in partnership with Aberdeenshire Council, Aberdeenshire Sports Council, Aberdeen Sports Village and RGU Sport, the programme will be open annually to approximately 35 athletes of all ages from across Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire. The Athlete Development Programme is funded by Inverurie Youth Sports Foundation (IYSF), Active Aberdeen Partnership (AAP), Aberdeenshire Sports Council (ASC) and McIntosh Plant Hire (MPH).
Tony Dawson Chair, Active Aberdeen Partnership, said: “The Athlete Development Programme will give local athletes much needed support and a direct pathway to the next level, allowing progression within their sport. This programme has been created in response to the challenging demands of competing on the international stage and it is our hope that it will allow more people in the area to fulfil their aspiration to become a performance athlete. “This is the first multisport initiative of its kind in the North East and wouldn’t be possible without the collaborative and partnership approach helping to foster and encourage future generation of athletes.”
Ali Bell, Assistant Regional Performance Manager, Institute of Sport (Grampian, Tayside and Fife) said: “This programme is really exciting for the region, more athletes will have access to a support package which will help them develop their performance and progress in their sport.”
Neil Fachie, Paralympic Cyclist and mentor on the ADP said: “I was involved in sport in Aberdeen for a long time before I experienced any level of support to aid my development. I was shocked at how much of an impact it all made on my sporting career, as well as all the key areas I was missing out on. This programme will provide a fantastic opportunity for young athletes from the areas to access services and knowledge that could help shape their sporting future.”
Sport Aberdeen Active News | 09
AWARD SUCCESS FOR SPORT ABERDEEN Sport Aberdeen got off to a flying start this awards season, winning the ‘Community Award’ at the 10th annual TREND Life with Style Awards on 14 June, for our commitment to creating opportunities, inspiring people and changing lives through sport and physical activity regardless of barriers such as age, cost, ability and gender. Get active @ Jesmond was then named Scottish ‘Centre of the Year’ at the ukactive Uprising Awards on 21 June, a flagship award scheme that celebrates facilities which live and breathe excellent customer service with the aim of getting more people more active more often. On 14 June, Move More Aberdeen (MMA) received runner up and were highly commended in the ‘Pioneering Project’ category at the Scottish Charity Awards. MMA was nominated for being at the forefront of working with people living with cancer and translating the evidence of the benefits of physical activity across the cancer pathway into practice. Sport Aberdeen more recently won the Corporate Partnership of the Year award at the Celebrate Aberdeen Awards on 8 September, in partnership with Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE), for the BHGE 10K Running Festival. Sport Aberdeen has also been shortlisted in the ‘Making the Difference’ category at the 2018 Northern Star Business Awards which take place on 27 September.
SUMMER SKATING SPECTACULAR SUCCESS Stars of ITV’s Dancing on Ice Mark Hanretty and Alex Murphy wowed spectators on Saturday 7 July 2018, when they visited the Linx Ice Arena to host and take part in Sport Aberdeen’s Summer Skating Spectacular. The Summer Skating Spectacular brought together over 200 Learn to Skate members and local club skaters to perform alongside the Dancing on Ice professionals in an end of year showcase for family, friends and members of the general public. The showcase was the centrepiece of the day, which also included a series of workshops for juniors and adults, allowing skaters of all ages to receive invaluable advice from two professional ice dancers who have themselves competed and won medals for their respective countries at championship level.
THE BOARD VISIT CROMDALE OUTDOOR CENTRE On 28 June, members of the Sport Aberdeen board, Colin Taylor, Anthony Dawson and Alistair Robertson, visited Adventure Aberdeen’s Cromdale Outdoor Centre to see the facility and to discuss plans for the future with Outdoor and Adventurous Activity Manager, Mike Gifford. During the visit, they observed 32 Kingsford Primary School pupils taking part in rock climbing and abseiling activities at Huntly’s Cave, part of Adventure Aberdeen’s residential base in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park just outside Grantown on Spey. Adventure Aberdeen are looking ahead to their busiest winter yet, with school group bookings, private weekend bookings and Go MTB courses running. They have even started to receive bookings for summer 2019.
OLYMPIC AND COMMONWEALTH GYMNASTS LAUNCH NEW GYMNASTICS PROGRAMME IN CITY On 20 August, Beth Tweddle MBE, Olympic, World and European medallist in Women’s artistic gymnastics and local Commonwealth gymnast Izzy Tolometti, attended the official opening of Sport Aberdeen’s Alex Collie Gymnastics Performance Centre. This marked the launch of a new citywide, 40-week gymnastics programme which has facilitated over 140 spaces for children interested in getting involved in gymnastics across the city. The Alex Collie Gymnastics Performance Centre, a dedicated and specialist gymnastics centre catering to everyone from young children to seasoned gymnasts, underwent significant refurbishment in January 2018 after funding was secured by Sport Aberdeen and City of Aberdeen Gymnastics Club (COAG) to purchase new men and women’s GYMNOVA apparatus comprising new high bars, rings, asymmetric bars, beams and floor pads, to allow for a fully functioning permanent gymnastics set up. The audience were treated to 4 solo floor routines by City of Aberdeen Gymnastics Club (COAG) gymnasts: Innes Reid, aged 16; Lexi Walker, aged 11; Mackenzie Reid, aged 11 and Kirsty Fowler, aged 14.
MOVE MORE ABERDEEN HELPS LOCAL SKIER GET BACK ON COURSE TO FITNESS AFTER CANCER Steve Stephenson wrote to Sport Aberdeen in August to thank Move More, and in particular, his trainer Jon Lurie for helping him get back on his path to fitness. Following two knee operations and a prostate cancer diagnoses in 2014, Mr Stephenson was recommended Move More classes. He joined at the Beach Leisure Centre and after a few weeks was recommended to take part in light circuit training at Torry Sports Centre with Jon Lurie. After 12 weeks at Torry, Mr Stephenson continued to work with Jon at Cults Sports Centre and after a bad fall in 2015, Jon recommended the Stable and Able fitness class at Peterculter which he still attends to this day.
LOCAL CHILDREN GET FIRST TASTE OF TRIATHLON At the start of August, Cults Sports Complex hosted a ‘Kids Summer Triathlon’ which was aimed at giving young children a chance to give the multisport race a try for the first time. Over 50 children from across the city and shire took part in the participatory event, arranged by Sport Aberdeen’s Active Schools and Triathlon Scotland, which saw various age groups take on varying distances of Swimming, cycling and running with every participant receiving a medal upon completion. Earlier in the year, Triathlon Scotland also provided bikes and helmets during the Active Schools Fun Run Series, so that pupils could do a mini duathlon once they had finished their Fun Run. This event attracted over 60 participants, so organisers felt that there would be enough interest for a triathlon during the summer holidays.
Insider: Meet the team
NAME: ALAN FORSYTH JOB TITLE: TRUSTEE DIRECTOR Whilst I have always been interested in sport, it is not until you become a parent do you really appreciate the level of club activity and access that you have for sport right on your doorstep. I suppose most of my time was spent ferrying the kids to and from their chosen sports over the years and inevitably as a parent you get roped into helping with everything needed to keep the club activities funded and continuing to develop. I found that once the children decided that my services were no longer needed I still felt that I had something to put back into the sports that we as a family are still close to. During my time with the Aberdeen Lynx Ice Hockey Club and working closely with Sport Aberdeen and the Ice Sports Committee I was offered the opportunity to become a trustee and join the board. On reflection, I suppose at that time I had absolutely no idea about the journey we as a company were about to embark on. One thing is for sure, in the last few years I have learned much more about our city and all that it has to offer for sport and leisure.
WHAT EXPERTISE ARE YOU ABLE TO OFFER THE COMPANY? Over the years I have been a customer of many of our sporting facilities and more recently in the role of Chairman for the Lynx Ice Hockey Club I have become much more aware of the challenges and issues that Sport Aberdeen have to face in driving the improvements required to bring a much improved offering to its customers both new and old. I suppose the most value I can bring to the company is my experiences of seeing the challenges that have to be faced on a daily basis from both a customer and business delivery perspective. I would like to think I can add some common sense and keep the solutions as pragmatic as possible.
YOU GIVE A LOT OF YOUR TIME, WHAT DO YOU GET OUT OF THE ROLE? Sport is a key component of any young person’s development and the learning and experience gained from their chosen sports I believe provides the individual with skills that can be used throughout their working life, no matter what career they choose. In my day job it is great to see that Health and fitness is now common place in our modern working environment. I am pleased to see that the need for programmes such as active workforce into the workplace has been embraced by many organisations. We spend a lot of time at work so the need to have a healthier, more motivated and productive workforce has to be overall goal that we are all seeking to achieve. Sport Aberdeen has a huge part to play in delivering this to the city and I am pleased to be part of it.
Name: Andy Laing Job Title: Golf Starter, Kings Links Golf Course
Name: Fiona Hyde Job Title: Volunteer (Move More Aberdeen)
What do you enjoy most about your job?
What do you enjoy most about volunteering for Sport Aberdeen?
I love my job because I enjoy the everyday interaction with the public and helping with all their enquiries. I also enjoy feeling like a respected and valued member of the team. I am an example to all the seasonal staff that if you work hard enough there is always a chance of getting promoted to a full time member of staff.
It’s been a hugely rewarding experience meeting inspirational people, listening to their stories and feeling that you’ve made a difference and have helped somebody get back to fitness. You can see people progressing over the twelve weeks and people tell you that they could barely walk to their front gate and now they are doing their walks. I’m also getting out walking and doing the gentle movement, so the benefits for myself as well are really huge.
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