Thorn Athletic Community Trust from Johnstone were awarded funding last year from the SFP Trust’s James Anderson Grassroots Football Facilities Fund. The £15,000 award helped with the reconstruction of their grass pitch including specialist pitch drainage and the erection of a boundary fence at the Thorn Athletic Sports Academy facility in the town.
Thanks to the hard work and dedication of this Community Trust, the project was completed towards the end of 2022. The Trust not only deliver football activity for boys, girls and adults with over 440 playing members but also carry out some fantastic work to support the health and wellbeing of people in the local community including support for early years, walking football and mental health programmes. Mark McGee, Chairperson commented on the award and said “This project will increase the capacity at our venue and we will now be able to stage additional seasonal activities. With enhanced security and an improved playing surface we would expect to increase the number of matches taking place. We will be able to stage more one-off events like tournaments and galas. That will free up indoor capacity which will allow us more slots to introduce more programmes for early years. It will make the facility a focal point for the community and hopefully make it more appealing. We are most grateful to all our funders, including the SFP Trust and especially to Mr. James Anderson for his contribution to our club via the Grassroots Facilities Fund.”