Keith Football Club helping isolated residents in their community by doing errands during the coronavirus pandemic
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WITH no football for the foreseeable future, Keith FC have been doing their bit for the local community during the Covid-19 lockdown.
The club offers isolated residents in the Friendly Town an errand service every Saturday, whereby volunteers do shopping trips, collect prescriptions or walk dogs for those unable to do it themselves.
Club chairman Andy Troup said people are grateful for the help they are receiving from all parts of the Keith community.
“We’ve got roughly seven or eight people every weekend going out to help, depending on the demand,” he said.
“It’s always a good turnout and we have more if required.
“We’ve got a few regulars now, whether it’s shopping trips or walking their dogs, we’re happy to help.
“It’s been fantastic. We’ve had some really good feedback from people and obviously helping them is what it’s all about at the moment.
“It’s pulling together and getting everybody through it to make sure they are all safe and well, that’s the important thing.
“Normal is probably a long way away so it will be open to the community as long as they need us. We will be there to support them as long as we can be.
“There’s so many other organisations within the town, not just ourselves who have been out helping.
“The Keith Community Council has done a tremendous amount of work in the town. It is just fantastic to see everybody pulling together and it’s so important in these times because people need our help.”
Keith’s Highland League campaign was cut short in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, and there remains uncertainty over when the next campaign can safely be played.
The Kynoch Park squad agreed to take no wages
from the date of the shutdown, helping the club through what will be a difficult time.
When play does eventually resume, Keith will be like many other clubs looking to bring in revenue at a time when sponsorship and corporate hospitality will be hard to secure.
Troup revealed how his club plans to offer sponsorship at slightly reduced cost in an effort to strengthen their links with the companies who back them.
“We are looking at different schemes at the moment to try and help the sponsors along as well,” he added.
“Maybe by reducing some of the costs so the sponsors are not having to give us as much, we can work with them and try to keep them on board for the years to come.
“Our main sponsor is on board and we are working on the other ones, looking to give them the same deal at a lesser price.
“This will obviously hurt the club a little bit, but we will just tighten our belts to survive and get through it and hopefully have the sponsors there in the long term. That’s the key thing.
“We have sponsors who we’ve had for a long time and we’ve got a good affiliation with them.
“A lot of them are local Keith businesses as well so we know the hard times they are going through and they are no different to the football club, so we have just got to try and work with them and hopefully we can all come through it on the other side.”
Errands are run each Saturday between 10am and 5pm. Call 07877 444024 or email keithfc@highlandleague.com for details.
