Celtic FC’s Christmas Appeal for the Football for Good Fund (FFGF)

Celtic FC’s Christmas Appeal for the Football for Good Fund (FFGF)

Celtic FC Foundation, the charitable arm of Celtic Football Club are in the midst of their annual Christmas campaign. The Club started the Christmas Appeal phase on November 6 and Celtic FC had kicked off the campaign with a donation of £10,000. Through the Appeal, the Foundation wants to help hundreds of local families facing poverty, giving them the kind of Christmas most of us take for granted. With lots of food on the table and gifts for the kids. Making sure Santa pays a visit on Christmas Eve, despite COVID-19. They also want to support pensioners on our doorstep, by lending a hand at a difficult time of year, as well as local charities.

The Christmas Appeal so far included:

A Christmas Appeal designated matchday for Celtic’s encounter with St Johnstone on Sunday, December 6, to support families and pensioners:

• Shirt Auction – thanks to the incredible support and generosity of Club sponsors Dafabet and Magners, the Celtic first team will sport our unique Christmas Appeal branding on their Hoops. A selection of the shirts – together with those from the AC Milan match on Thursday, December 3 complete with Celtic FC Foundation branding – will then made available via an online charity auction through our eBay account.
• Virtual Bucket Collection – to replace our physical matchday collection, which takes place once a year, we will be offering supporters the opportunity to contribute virtually.
• Pass to Paradise broadcast – this will focus on the Appeal and share news and opportunities with supporters.

A Boogie for good in support of Foundation Christmas Appeal:

• Supporters took on the challenge of dancing non-stop to an array of Christmas party classics.

A donation of £10k to two mental health projects:

• CELTIC FC Foundation launched a new strand to their Football for Good Fund aimed at tackling the ever increasing mental health and well-being issues faced by many, especially during the current pandemic.
• Both St Roch’s FC and Glasgow’s Golden Generation will received £5,000 each, with the donations going towards both organisation’s existing services that strive to improve mental health and well-being in their local communities.

A new Foundation t-shirt that will support work with refugees:

• Celtic FC Foundation launched a brand new special edition t-shirt, in support of their work with refugees.
• The T-shirt features the Foundation logo accompanied by the slogan ‘This land was made for you and me’, encapsulating the ethos of a Club born to alleviate poverty within the Irish immigrant community, and one that is open to all.
• Net proceeds are devoted to the Christmas Appeal phase of the Football for Good Fund (FFGF), with a particular focus on supporting our refugee charity partners.

A ‘Stay Up for the Champions’ in support of Christmas Appeal:

• Supporters got behind the Christmas Appeal, by staying up, rather than sleepinng out this year. With fundraising still ongoing, the participants have raised £7K to date.
• The six-hour Stay Up for the Champions broadcast began at 11.45pm at night and ran right through to 5.45am in the morning.
• The programme included a rare glimpse of an empty Celtic Park at night, messages from a few special guests, extended highlights of two classic Celtic matches, a Q&A with Celtic legend and former captain, Tom Boyd, features about three organisations who have previously benefited from Christmas Appeal donations, Part One and Two of the ‘Our Nine, Our Time’ DVD, a special festive message from Celtic FC Foundation’s Supporters’ Committee, a timely quiz for viewers to play along with at home to get the brain cells going, and a brilliant rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone.

A Celtic Zoom and donation of £10,000 to Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity:

• Celtic FC Foundation made a £10,000 donation to Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity (GCHC), as part of its annual Christmas campaign.
• The Hoops first-team squad and management will carried out a host of Zoom calls with numerous kids across the hospital wards to bring some Christmas cheer to them during a difficult time.
• Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity raises funds to support the babies, children and young people treated at Scotland’s busiest children’s hospital, which treats nearly 200,000 children each year.
• The donation made to GCHC will fund Christmas gifts for children living with long-term health conditions and provide support for some parents and carers who may struggle to provide the basic items that they require during a hospital stay. It will also provide fun activities for those children who have to remain in hospital over the festive period.

Celtic Chief Executive Peter Lawwell said: “The work carried out through the Football for Good Fund has been remarkable and we sincerely thank our fans their magnificent support of this initiative.  We have helped thousands of people in need already, distributed more than £900,000 of support and will continue to do all we can to make a positive difference to many. The Foundation’s work around the festive period has always been crucial but there is even greater significance this year, due to the additional burdens associated with the current pandemic. The needs of the most vulnerable in our communities are greater than ever before, particularly at a time of year that is already notoriously challenging for so many. Despite the difficulties presented by the COVID-19 crisis, our hope is that the Appeal, which is perfectly aligned with the proud charitable beginnings of our Club, will provide a little festive comfort to so many vulnerable children and families, the elderly and those we support through our trusted charity partners.”

Celtic FC Foundation Chief Executive, Tony Hamilton, added: “2020 has been a year to forget for all of us, but what we won’t forget this Christmas are the people in our communities who need help the most. Our annual Christmas Appeal in 2020 is an extension of the FFGF we set up in Spring, and we must recognise that many Celtic fans have already contributed to that. It’s been an amazing response so far but there are months and months of this ahead of us still.