The SFP Trust was delighted to award funding of £500 from their new Club Development Grant scheme to Blairgowrie & Rattray Community F.C. from the SFA East Region. The initiative, funded by the SFP Trust in partnership with The Kilpatrick Fraser Charitable Trust and The Clydesdale Bank, 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.
Blairgowrie & Rattray Community F.C. utilised their grant to allow one of their coaches, Bob Dryburgh to complete his SFA Children’s Award. The club have plans to form a new 2012 boys’ team and Bob will now use his newly gained knowledge from this qualification to assist coach Bruce Whytock set-up this new age-group. Part of the funding was also used to buy some footballs for this new boys’ team as well as for the mini-kickers team. Sandy Thomson from the club said “The next generation of enthusiastic young football players got underway recently with the BRCFC Mini Kickers programme for both boys and girls who are pictured here. Another coach at the club is local girl, Rebecca Foote who is a Student PE Teacher who plays first team football with St. Johnstone WFC in the SWPL2 League and has been coaching at BRCFC for almost two years. The club is open to local boys and girls from the age of 3 onwards and we already have a membership of over 130 players across our various age-groups. We are most grateful to The Scottish Football Partnership Trust for this Club Development Grant.”