Rangers Charity Foundation donates £10k to armed forces charities

SSAFA, Erskine, Bravehound, and the Coming Home Centre, in Govan, were all given a share of a £10,000 windfall from the Rangers Charity Foundation. 

Each worthy cause received £2,500 as part of the Foundation’s Armed Forces Fund partnerships for season 2020/21, taking the total donated by the Light Blues' charity wing to veterans' organisations to more than £190,000 to date. 

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Foundation director Connal Cochrane said: “Rangers FC and the Foundation have a long and proud history of support for the armed services and we are delighted to continue to support these organisations with this donation.

"Prior to Covid-19 restrictions, we have hosted Armed Forces Day and Remembrance events at Ibrox every year and always support a range of services-related charities. 

“Throughout lockdown, we have been running virtual ‘Team Talk’ sessions focused on mental wellbeing and recently ran a successful 12-week programme specifically for veterans to enable them to chat with like-minded people, improve their confidence and combat the isolation many have felt without normal routines.

“We have also launched a veterans’ drop-in football session in partnership with Glasgow Veterans United Extra Time, which takes place on Monday nights in Benburb."

Rangers fans also took the opportunity to show their support for the Foundation’s Armed Forces Fund in March this year by raising cash in a raffle and auction for signed Rangers FC Poppy shirts.

Connal Cochrane, second right

Cochrane added: “It has been important to support our veterans with initiatives such as these during lockdown, but we are very much looking forward to welcoming them back to Ibrox next season.”

Sara Bannerman, head of fundraising and communications at Erskine, said: “We are incredibly grateful to the Rangers Charity Foundation for this generous donation and for their ongoing, loyal support. 

"As Scotland’s largest veterans charity we need to independently raise over £10m in order to continue to provide the range of direct care services and support to over 1,000 Veterans each year, of all ages. 

"Our thanks, from everyone at Erskine, to the Rangers Charity Foundation for their continued support.”

Dave Devenney, director of The Coming Home Centre, said: “For almost ten years The Coming Home Centre has striven to support armed forces veterans, meeting them at their point of need.

"Originally established to assist veterans through the transition from military to civilian life it has grown into a diverse, five day a week drop-in and support centre. Pre-Covid-19 the centre offered veterans a free hot lunch, emergency accommodation if homeless, emergency food boxes, a safe space and something like the kind of mutual support and camaraderie they enjoyed whilst in uniform.

“These challenging times and temporary closure of our centre has understandably had a negative impact on the veterans we support.

"Without access to our building, and with the effects of the pandemic bearing down on us, it was clear that we would be unable to continue in our usual way and that in order to meet the often complex needs of our client base we would rapidly require to reorganise almost every facet of our support mechanisms.

"Thus, in order to continue to provide a good level of support for our veterans, we decided that we would switch to a high-level outreach programme.

"The generous gift from the Rangers Charity Foundation has helped us maintain vital contact with our clients as we delivered emergency food and other essentials in what has been a significantly challenging 14 months.”