A fitting tribute to footie fan Stewart
Family and friends raise £10k in honour of much-missed pal
Friends of a much- loved footie fan who died after a life-long battle with cystic fibrosis have coined in piles of cash for deserving charities.
Paisley man Stewart Kelly’s loved ones were left devastated in May last year when he passed away at just 30 years old.
In September, friends rallied together to play a fundraising football match in honour of the sports fan and to raise money for three cystic fibrosis charities.
And organisers were thrilled to be able to split a cheque for £10,569 between Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Butterfly Trust and the Willow Foundation.
Each cause received a bumper donation of £3,523.30 thanks to the efforts made by Stewart’s generous friends and family.
Stewart’s pal Chris McPherson said it was an honour to raise money in tribute to his friend.
Stewart was a regular at the Elderslie Inn, where Chris works as manager, and so Chris saw it as a fitting tribute to invite the charities to the pub to present them with their donation.
He said: “Stewart was such a good friend and he was always in the pub. He would just come in and have a pint, some crisps and play some pool and he was always nipping off to the shops to buy sweeties.
“He tried to hide his illness from us all for as long as he could, he hated people making a fuss.
“He was just a great guy and we all knew we wanted to do something to honour him.”
Stewart was a great supporter of Celtic over the years and his friends and family say he would have loved the idea of hosting a big football match to raise money for such worthy causes.
Before Stewart passed away he won a signed Celtic top in a Dafabet promotion and during the charity match it was auctioned and bought by friends Tommy McPherson and Martin Brawley for £1,000.
To celebrate the bumper cheque handover they decided to give the top back to Stewart’s mum Shirley.
“Stewart was football daft,” said Chris. “He would be so over the moon to see what we’ve achieved.
“I was absolutely shocked by how much we raised.
“It started off as an idea that we would have a wee kickabout in the park for Stewart to try and raise some money, and before we knew it we were being offered Johnstone’s Keanie Park and making £10,000 for charity.
“It ’ s so worthwhile and we are definitely going to try and do it all again next year.”