Glasgow Saints Football Club raises thousands for local food bank and homeless charity

Glasgow Saints FC, which was established in 2020, took part in a Big Long Walk last month to raise money for The Everlasting Foodbank, The Kindness Homeless Team and the club itself.

Glasgow Saints walked for 15 hours and 15 minutes to complete their Big Long Walk (Image: Glasgow Saints Big Long Walk raised over £4k in funds)

Emma Jones, chairperson of the club, said: "The GoFundMe donation page raised an amazing total of £4344.42, and raffle ticket sales allowed us to raise the donation amount going to each charity to £1500. 

"We’re so very grateful to all who have donated. Seeing donations come in on the day provided a real boost for the walkers and really cemented the reason behind why everyone had signed up to such a gruelling task."

Glasgow Saints Women's, Glasgow Saints Men's and Dennistoun Saints doing their Big Long Walk (Image: Glasgow Saints Women's, Glasgow Saints Men's and Dennistoun Saints doing their Big Long Walk)

Glasgow Saints' three teams - the men's, women's and Dennistoun Saints - and backroom staff kicked off their walk early in the morning and trekked for a total of 15 hours and 15 minutes.

Starting at Glasgow Green and finishing at Whitehill Secondary School pitch, the team visited the likes of Ibrox Stadium, Hampden Park and Sir Alex Ferguson Park along the way.

Though the walk was tiring, the team found the cause made it worth it.

Glasgow Saints worked their way around Glasgow's major football grounds (Image: Glasgow Saints Big Long Walk raised over £4k in funds)

The Big Long Walk took place on Sunday, September 4 (Image: The Big Long Walk took place on Sunday, September 4)

Diletta Taris, 29, from Glasgow Saints Women's team, said: "The walk was a massive undertaking for me. I had never done such a big walk, but it ended up being an absolutely brilliant day.

"Since the Saints are a charity with three separate football teams, this was also a chance to get to know some of the players on the other teams a bit better and that was also lovely.

"That, in addition to all the support recevied on the fundraising page, was overall just class."

Glasgow Saints stopped by New Tinto Park (Image: Glasgow Saints stopped by New Tinto Park)

Iain Christie, 32, head of performance at Saints and assistant manager of Glasgow Saints Men’s, added: "The walk was challenging physically, but I think we were all so aware of the impact it would have on such good causes and that was definitely a motivation throughout which kept us going.

"It was a good feeling to use football in such a positive way."

The Everlasting Foodbank and The Kindness Homeless Team both received their £1500 on Monday.

Hampden Park was on Saints visiting list (Image: Hampden Park was on Saints visiting list)

Laura McSorley, founder of Kindness Homeless Street Team, said: "We were delighted to be one of the chosen charities for Glasgow Saints FC to raise funds for.

"The money raised will help with our running costs for our services.

"We have saw a huge increase in demand with the cost of living effecting so many. This will make a massive difference to so many.

"Currently we service around 300 people per week with our soup kitchen three evenings per week and food parcels. We are also in the progress of creating a community group to reach out to more people."

Vinny Bryson, Glasgow Saints Technical Director, and his three children (Image: Vinny Bryson, Glasgow Saints Technical Director, and his three children)

Glasgow Saints raffle is ongoing until the end of October. You can purchase a ticket by contacting the team.