The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Fans pitch in as club fights back from flood
Star golfer Lawrie helps football team
A HIGHLAND League football club hit by flooding has been inundated with support – including from Scottish golf champion Paul Lawrie.
Water swamped Turriff United’s grounds at the Haughs, turning the pitch into a pond and damaging facilities.
Club bosses launched a fundraiser to cover the clean-up, and last night revealed that Mr Lawrie had been among the many donors.
Chairman George Mann praised those who rallied around with practical support and said their efforts meant cash raised could be used to buy a flood door to protect the grounds from future downpours.
Meanwhile, staff at Crimond Primary have announced the school will remain shut until Monday for flood repairs.
And Aberdeenshire Council is warning motorists in the Turriff area to expect disruption due to the closure of five bridges.
The north-east has come to the aid of Turriff United as the Highland League side recovers from devastating weekend flooding.
Water swept through the club’s Haughs ground following torrential rain, turning the pitch into a pond and damaging its facilities.
But a small army of volunteers turned out to help club staff stage a massive clean-up operation.
Their efforts have been so impressive Turriff may now be able to use the proceeds of a JustGiving appeal to install flood doors at the ground.
Open golf champion Paul Lawrie is among those who have put their hands in their pockets to help the club recover from the latest flooding incident.
A donation appeared on the fundraising page from Mr Lawrie and his wife, with a comment reading: “Sorry to see the flooding, good luck with the cleanup”.
The club raised £400 of the £500 target within 24 hours of the appeal being shared on the club’s Facebook page. As flooding
caused chaos across the north-east at the weekend, water spread throughout the ground floor of club facilities at the Haughs, affecting both changing rooms, the referee’s room, the gym, the laundry room and the manager’s office. A storage area and changing rooms used by the youth teams were also affected.
A statement on the club’s fundraising page said: “The clean-up operation and repairs of damage will never be cheap and while we are working hard to do this as cheaply as possible there are costs involved.”
The Highland League Club appealed to supporters, the public and families of all the players who play for any of the teams to support the cleanup efforts. Those unable
to make a donation were invited to help the club with repair works.
Turriff chairman George Manson yesterday said: “We set a target of £500 for our JustGiving page and we’ve already reached £400, which is very pleasing.
“We received a donation from 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie, who is a close personal friend of one of our directors, Eddie Morrison, and his brother Brian. Paul has always been a good friend to our club.”
He added: “We thought we would try the JustGiving page to see if it gained any traction. We set it at a nominal amount, as most what is required is hard work and the use of disinfectants and the like, but we are going to investigate the possibility
of installing flood doors at the ground.
“The clean-up is being undertaken by volunteers and we’re very grateful to them.”
Mr Manson is confident the clean-up will be completed in time for the club’s next home game. He said: “We play Deveronvale in the local derby a week on Wednesday and by that time I’m sure everything will be OK thanks to the marvellous effort put in by so many volunteers.”
Travel around the Turriff area may be disrupted for weeks as Aberdeenshire Council has closed Gorrachie bridge, South Mains Bridge, Mill Croft Bridge, Bridge of Fortrie and Balmaud Bridge, which were all damaged in the flooding. Repairs have started on the bridge at Burn of Litterty and the Bridge of Bruntyards.
Donations to support the clean-up costs for Turriff United can be made at justgiving. com/crowdfunding/ turriffunitedfc
Staff at Crimond Primary announced the school will stay shut until Monday. A temporary oil tank, generator and boilers will be brought in to allow classes to resume.