There has been a lot happening over the last few months with our involvement in the local community.

STIRLING ALBION FOUNDATION

The Foundation, the Club’s Charitable Arm, has a new Chairperson in the shape of Grant Morrice. Grant is currently the Chairperson of our Junior Academy and brings a wealth of experience in developing a football pathway which is fun and enjoyable for children from 5 years old to 16 years old.

Stirling Albion Junior Academy is going to become part of Stirling Albion Foundation. It currently sits independently from the Football Club, and this will create a stronger and better children’s football pathway as part of the Foundation.

The Foundation will also be taking on the responsibility of running all the Community Classes and Community events which are currently under the Football Club. To oversee our engagement in the Community the Foundation have appointed a new Football Development Officer. His name is Craig Mair, and he has a wealth of experience in delivering football programmes in the Community, having spent the last ten years in a similar role with Partick Thistle.

SUMMER CAMPS

Three summer football camps were held at Forthbank in July and August for children between 5 and 14. These were well attended by around 40 children each week and thanks to support from Stirling Albion Supporters’ Trust we were able to offer several free places in partnership with Homestart Stirling and Stirling Council’s Families and Children department.

THISTLES SHOPPING CENTRE

We have established a new partnership with the Thistles Shopping Centre to develop our presence in the local community. Our first of hopefully many events took place on 2 August when we displayed the League 2 Trophy in the shopping centre and gave fans, old and new, the opportunity to have their photo taken with the trophy. Thanks to the people who volunteered on the day we were able to talk to lots of people and promote the club. We were joined by one of our main partners Start Up Stirling who helped us and were able to get some donations with their collection buckets.

UKRAINIAN FAMILIES

We have established a relationship with Stirling Council’s Refugee Officer and have invited 40 Ukrainian adults and children to our home game v Kelty Hearts on Saturday 26 August. We will provide some fun football activities in the Pods before they come in to cheer us on. This will all happen just two days after celebrating Ukraine Independence Day on 24 August

TROPHY TOUR

We have been visiting various schools and most of our Junior Academy teams to provide photo opportunities with the trophy and answer any questions the children have. This has gone down very well, and we hope to continue this in the new school term.

JUNIOR ACADEMY SEASON TICKETS

We have created a designated section of the stadium for the children in our Junior Academy providing those 12 and under with a Free Season Ticket. We see this as a great way of encouraging our young support and getting them behind the team by making some noise on a Saturday.

Jim McAllister
Community Engagement Director
Stirling Albion Football Club