Caring football league gives festive boost to city charities

Superheroes on skis to kick-start 2019

DOZENS of Glasgow charities have benefitted from an early festive donation from a city football league.

Glasgow District Sunday Football Champions (GDSFC) ensured Christmas came early for deserving organisations across the city with hundreds of pounds worth of donations.

Scottish SPCA’s Cardonald centre received £100 worth of food, Glasgow Children’s Hospital was given a £250 cash boost, and Macmillan Cancer Research also nabbed £200.

Donations were also made to Myeloma UK, Alzheimers Scotland, stillborn charity SANDS, Encephalitis Society and Glasgow Spirit of Christmas Appeal bringing the league’s charitable giving to more than £1,500 this year alone.

Chairman Nim Roy, from South Nitshill, told the Evening Times: “Everything goes to charity, we’re completely not-for-profit and we give away about £2,000 each year.

“It’s been going on for about 10 years but we’ve really started to grow in the last five. We’ve went from six teams to 24.

“We’ve got teams from all over Glasgow and a couple of homeless teams too, but they’re all a great bunch of people who are really up for helping out different charities across the city.”

The group behind the GDSFC try to stay under the radar when it comes to their charitable donations, opting for small cash handovers, not large cheque presentations.

“We always pick charities close to our hearts and everyone is always really keen to get involved,” 38-year-old Nim, from South Nitshill, added. “Each year we have a chat and donate from there. We’re not into the limelight but we all enjoy helping out and we always end up putting on extra charity matches.”

This year, the league has also partnered with the charity Brothers in Arms which aims to combat suicide rates among men.

Nim said: “We’re doing a bit to raise awareness for the charity and spread their message.But honestly, we just have a lot of fun.”

The group are still deciding on which charities to donate to this year, with the season set to begin again in May.

To join the league for the 2019 season contact the GDSFC 2008 Twitter page for more information. Teams from across the city are able to compete in the tournament which takes place over a four month period.