Ex-pat Celtic fans’ food bank donation
And Hoops star Kieran Tierney shows support
A struggling East Kilbride food bank’s plea for help was answered by ex-pat Celtic supporters on the other side of the world – with the support of Hoops star Kieran Tierney.
Despite being 10,000 miles from home in Melbourne, Australia, Mark Henderson, Paul Nelson and Sammy Sweeney learned about the plight of Loaves & Fishes chair Denis Curran MBE and netted £2400 for the charity.
The lads, who all attended St Bride’s High School in East Kilbride, are members of the Jock Stein Celtic Supporters Club (JSCSC) down under and joined forces with some friends from across the water to get Celtic on board with a fundraising drive.
With the help of Perth CSC, who boosted the Bhoys’ fundraising total, they auctioned off four signed Tierney Celtic tops for the cause.
Mark, formerly of St Leonards, told the News: “The Jock Stein Celtic Supporters Club in Melbourne, Australia has a large number of people who have moved from East Kilbride.
“We always hear on social media how the food banks need more assistance and how families rely on Denis so much so we thought it would be a great idea to raise much-needed funds for Loaves & Fishes.
“The supporters club is always involved in fundraising for local charities as well as the Celtic Foundation.”
With greater levels of hardship forcing hundreds of families to East Kilbride food banks, Mr Curran issued a desperate plea for donations to stay afloat in the News back in September.
Since then, kind-hearted local folk have come forward in their droves and donated bags of food and thousands of pounds to the Kelvin-based charity.
EK residents Kevin McElwee, who volunteers with Loaves & Fishes, and John Ledwith, stadium announcer at Celtic Park, helped get Tierney on board with the fundraiser and Mark said the Celtic star was happy to help out.
Mark and former Westwood residents Sammy and Paul moved out to Oz for job opportunities, a better quality of life – and sunny weather.
They play with Melbourne soccer team St Kilda Celts which has
a large Scottish/ Irish contingent. JSCSC president Colin Turnbull, who is originally from Paisley, Renfrewshire and has family in East Kilbride, said: “Our aim is to raise funds in order to support charities that are aligned to the original aim of Celtic Football Club. “It is often said that Australia is the lucky country but we have certainly not forgotten our roots, and are only too well aware there are many less fortunate people out there who require assistance for the basic necessities, particularly those with young families. “Loaves & Fishes is a fantastic initiative to help alleviate some of the hardship currently being experienced, sadly by too many people, in the west coast of Scotland and, in particular, East Kilbride. “We would like to thank Kieran Tierney for continuing the work of Tommy Burns, who was also a great supporter of the charity, by signing a few Celtic tops and allowing us to raffle them off and do our bit f o r charity. We hope to continue to be able to support this and other charities in the future.” Stacey-Jane Reid, secretary of Loaves & Fishes, wrote to the clubs to thank them and said: “With your support, we can continue our mission to make a difference and provide hope for the most vulnerable people in our community.”