Gala Fairydean Rovers unveil new community trust creation

Borders club Gala Fairydean Rovers announced the creation of the independent charity, Gala Fairydean Rovers Football Club Community Trust, earlier this week on June 21 – eight years to the day since the formation of Gala Fairydean Rovers FC.
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A club statement said Gala FR FC had a long and proud tradition of working to support local communities. The creation of Gala Fairydean Rovers Football Club Community Trust in September 2020 as an independent charitable organisation ensured the award-winning Community Engagement Programme, set up by the football club in 2013, would be able to nurture existing and new partnership relationships, access previously unavailable funding and develop wider community opportunities, while enabling members to taking advantage of tax relief through HMRC Gift Aid.

The Community Trust consists of the four sections which include the Academy, comprising the juniors, youths and the adult amateur football team, the women’s and girls’ football squad, over 50s walking football and the para football squad.

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The Community Trust will also work with a variety of other locally charitable organisations, such as the Galashiels Foodbank and the heart health charity Scottish HART, striving to help improve the local community of Galashiels and the Central Borders.

The Community Trust is registered with the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) and is constituted as a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO).

The Trust will become one of the largest sporting organisations in the Scottish Borders, consisting of 16 teams, almost 400 players and 50 coaches and volunteers.

The new structure at Netherdale means the Gala Fairydean Rovers FC’s first team squad, which plays in the Lowland League, is now part of a new company limited by guarantee, allowing the club’s board and executive committee to concentrate exclusively on football matters, while a newly elected board of trustees is responsible for Community Trust activities.

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Community Trust chairman, Ross Buchan, said: “We at the Community Trust continue to put community engagement front and centre of everything we are trying to achieve at Netherdale.

"Our ethos is best summed up by our Community Trust’s motto, ‘A Community organisation with a heart in the heart of our community.’

"Our community programme continues to grow, as does the number of people involved both in participating and delivering the scheme. The newly-established Community Trust brings new opportunities to expand and further

develop on the fantastic work achieved so far.”

Ryan Cass, chairman of Gala Fairydean Rovers, added: “We are delighted to announce the launch of the Community Trust that will strengthen and build on the fantastic work already achieved by the club’s Community Engagement Programme.

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"We are ambitious both on and off the pitch at Netherdale and the new structure allows us to concentrate on improving our first team, while bringing exciting opportunities to help develop our community work.”