Christmas time is upon us and we are all very busy with various activities in all parts of the Community.
The CEO of M&G paid us a visit on 30 November. His name is Andrea Rossi and he was a Director of Bordeaux Football Club for two years. He was very interested to find out about our various activities in the Stirling Community and watched some of our Junior Academy players training. He also had a tour of the Stadium and bought a hat from the club shop. Andrea is hoping to return to watch the first team in action in the springtime.
We are pleased to announce that M&G (‘The Pru’) are sponsoring six of our community activities for all ages and sexes including our Mini Binos, Girls’ football, Friday night football for teenagers and Walking football. This substantial investment will help the Foundation deliver activities for all ages throughout Stirling.
We also had a community stall at the Thistles Shopping Centre on Friday 1 December when we displayed the League 2 Trophy, advertised our community classes and had club shop merchandise on display. We will continue to build our relationship with the Thistles to raise the profile of the club in the local community.
We participated in the SPFL Trust’s Festive Friends Programme which aims to provide some Christmas cheer to those elderly people most isolated and vulnerable at Christmas. We liaised with Stirling Council, Start Up Stirling and some local churches who identified those most in need, according to the Programme’s aims, for us to entertain. So, on 14 December we hosted 41 people at Forthbank to enjoy a Christmas lunch. They enjoyed the traditional three course Christmas meal followed by some singing and a visit from Santa. A small gift and a Stirling Albion scarf were given to everyone to take home. On 20th and 21st December we delivered Christmas Hampers to people in the local community containing a frozen Christmas Dinner and lots of treats and goodies.
We will be starting all our classes again in January and will provide full details on the Foundation web site https://www.stirlingalbionfoundation.co.uk
The Stirling Albion Foundation is now firmly established and delivers all the Community programmes on behalf of Stirling Albion Football Club. The Foundation is a registered charity and currently has three Trustees:
- Jim McAllister, Chairperson
- Graham Douglas, Secretary and Treasurer
- Kelly Marie Wilson, Trustee
The day to day activities are run by Craig Mair (Football Development Officer), Laura Downes (Administration Officer) and a team of 5 qualified coaches.
If you would like to find out more about the Foundation or volunteer to help please contact us at the address below
community@stirlingalbionfc.co.uk
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Jim McAllister
Director Community Engagement
Stirling Albion Football Club
