Footie team bag win for island food bank
BIG-HEARTED Scots footballers on an island hit by coronavirus have reached their goal of raising hundreds of euros for a food bank.
Amateur side San Giljan Saints play in Malta, which has been on lockdown due to its closeness to devastated Italy.
With a population of less than 500,000, Malta has reported more than 70 cases of the virus.
The Saints were set up by Andy
Clark, from Linlithgow in West Lothian. The team also features Scots manager Iain Macleod, from Shetland, Ray Forbes from Macduff, Aberdeenshire, and Stirling goalkeeper Ryan Kerr.
But with matches cancelled, the team turned their eyes towards hitting another target.
Iain messaged the whole squad, which includes English, Irish and other European players, to dig deep and help the vulnerable on the isle. Within 24 hours, more than €700 had been raised, with some of the team’s fans also chipping in.
The squad packed out three cars with much-needed goods and donated it all to the Foodbank Lifeline Foundation.
Andy, 29, said: “Fortunately, the authorities here moved pretty early to ban travel to and from Italy.
“Schools closed last week and all the restaurants, bars, cafes, gyms closed at the start of this week, so self-isolation is very much encouraged.
“But as with the rest of the world, there are a lot of people here in Malta struggling both in terms of health and financially – more so due to coronavirus.
“We were absolutely blown away by the fact that in 24 hours, we received €700 in donations.”