St Johnstone supporters behind new matchday collections for the local food bank have been “blown away” by the generosity on show.
The initiative - Saints Fans Supporting Foodbanks (SFSF) - was launched back in April for the home Scottish Premiership match against Aberdeen.
Since then, McDiarmid Park collections have taken place outside the Ormond Stand before matches against Ross County, Hibs, Dundee United and Motherwell.
The final collection of this season took place on Sunday ahead of the Perth club’s curtain-closing fixture with Livingston.
More than 100 crates have been gathered during that time for Perth and Kinross Foodbank.
SFSF coordinator, Colin MacKay, has been delighted with the progress and said the plan is for the collection to become permanent moving forward.
“As co-coordinators, Danny Williams and I have been absolutely blown away with the response and generosity of the fans, both Saints and away fans,” Colin explained.
“We know that every single donation, no matter how big, or how small, is helping to make a positive difference for those in crisis within our communities, and we would like to express our heartfelt thanks to every fan who has helped us. Some have given at every single collection.
“When doing initial research we expected to collect maybe three or four crates per game, but that was something of an underestimate, to say the least.
“Thanks to the Fans Supporting Foodbanks Scotland, St Johnstone Football Club, and our SLO Bev Mayer, details of each collection have been circulated widely and also shared with visiting clubs.
“We are really appreciative of the level of support provided by the club, allowing us to set up our collection point near to the club shop every match, and for giving us a storage area inside the Ormond Stand. Betty Ship at the club shop has also provided fantastic support to us.
“We aim to make our foodbank collection point a permanent feature at each home game for the whole of next season.”
Coupled with gathered items for the food bank, money has been raised for Saints in the Community to help continue their valuable work in the region.
CEO of The St Johnstone Community Trust, Francis Smith, provided his thanks.
He said: “As a collective, fans have now raised in excess of £700 for Saints in the Community – it’s such an incredible amount for us to be able to dedicate to our community food provisions and we’re so thankful.
“Perth is generally not considered an area impacted by poverty, but it is. One in four children are living in poverty across Perth and Kinross and there was an 89 per cent rise in food bank use in recent years.
“During the recent school holidays, Saints in the Community provided 134 free meals for local children and we’re grateful that with the support of fans we will be able to continue doing similarly throughout summer.”
