Bathgate Thistle CFC were recently granted an award of £500 from The SFP Trust’s 2019 Club Development Grant scheme. The initiative, funded by the SFP Trust in partnership with The Kilpatrick Fraser Charitable Trust, was developed to assist grassroots clubs in three specific areas – to increase participation by adding a new team to a club’s existing membership; to improve, enhance and sustain existing team activity through the purchase of new training equipment and/or funding First Aid training for coaches or thirdly to support Coach Education.
Bathgate Thistle CFC, an ever-growing club from The Scottish FA South East region, opted to utilise part of their grant to help establish their first ever girls’ section at Under-9 and Under-11 level and as a direct result of participant demand, the club will also be looking at how to expand this to older age-groups. The award will help purchase essential items to maximise the safe and fun participation as well as a contribution towards team kits for the girls. The remaining funds will be used to purchase new equipment to benefit all members of the club across their 26 teams which total almost 400 players. Paul Marr from the club had this to say about the award “This grant of £500 will be a huge boost for our club – helping us to grow and provide sporting opportunities for as many members of our community as possible. We have recently launched our first girls’ team and have great plans to develop this, therefore we will be looking to use some of these funds to help us deliver this plan. Thanks again to The SFP Trust and The Kilpatrick Fraser Charitable Trust for their support.”
