The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Fans go the extra mile to raise cash for the Dee community trust
CHARITY: Dark Blues supporters walk from Arbroath to Broughty Ferry and net £2,000 for club project
Dundee football fans took on a charity walk between Arbroath and Broughty Ferry yesterday to raise money for the club’s growing community trust.
More than 20 walkers raised around £2,000 for the Dens Park club’s charity arm.
The trust is only three years old but already works with more than 478 people per week in a number of different local and international projects.
The trust supports Football Memories for dementia sufferers, overseas groups as well as its own camps for budding stars of the future.
Lead trustee Craig Murray said: “There was a bit of rain but we walked through it and spirits remained high throughout.”
He said the trust was still in its infancy but was “growing and reaching more people in our community on a weekly basis”.
“We want people to know more about what we are doing during these uncertain times, which is probably when we are needed most,” he said.
Craig said its soccer camp for young players was the “first in many years” for the club.
He said: “This is a fantastic experience for the children to play on the pitch that so many great Dundee players past and present have played on. The children are having a great time.”
He said the trust’s many programmes show “how powerful football is in the city of Dundee”.
Its work also includes a scheme to prevent digital and social exclusion by providing tablets for the community.
The team also work to provide food, reading groups, mental health walks and girls football.
Community manager Greg Fenton said the trust had grown in recent months, with new programmes being added to support more individuals and transform more lives in its local community.
“Our trust has links with many agencies across the city to offer a ‘onestop shop’ approach so each individual can receive the support they require,” he added.
“We have a very large, if not the largest, soccer school programme in Tayside with hundreds of children receiving weekly soccer sessions with our qualified coaches from Wee Dees through to walking football with our seniors.”
“We want people to know more about what we are doing during these uncertain times, which is probably when we are needed most. CRAIG MURRAY OF DUNDEE FC COMMUNITY TRUST