Monday, 20 July 2015

The Spirit of Brother Walfrid


 
 The Spirit of Brother Walfrid

It is now more than 127 years since that great humanitarian Brother Walfrid founded a football club which grew from modest beginnings among the impoverished Irish community of Glasgow’s east end to become champions of Europe. He launched Celtic with the immortal words…

A football club shall be founded for the maintenance of dinner tables for the children and unemployed.’

Those principles of charity and inclusiveness are still at the heart of his club and Celtic supporters are rightly lauded for their efforts to support those less fortunate. We have all seen the good work of the Celtic Foundation, food collections organised by the Green Brigade and countless other charitable endeavours by supporters groups and individual fans.

It is regrettable that food banks are necessary in one of the world’s wealthiest countries but they are a fact of life for many. The Glasgow North East Food Bank supports those less fortunate across a swathe of the city. Indeed, one of their busiest outlets is just a corner kick away from Celtic Park at the Calton Parkhead Parish Church in Helenvale Street. The Glasgow North East Food Bank has provided support to over 4100 of our fellow citizens since it opened in 2013. The world may have changed greatly since Walfrid’s day but there is still much need in the city he called home for so many years.  With this in mind a few Celtic supporters have decided to help in our own small way.

The magnificent image you see at the top of the page is the creation of the talented Barry McGonigle who has brought so many classic Celtic images to life with his computer skills and hard work. The image is one of many stocked by Celtic Canvas Art and measures 75cm x 50cm. To stand a chance of winning this excellent piece of Celtic art and simultaneously supporting our friends at the Glasgow North East Food Bank all you have to do is pledge a minimum of £10 using the link below. Each person pledging £10 or more will be allocated a number on a first come first serve basis. Once  49 numbers are sold I shall post the numbers and names on Twitter in graphic form. We will then let the next scheduled National Lottery after that decide who wins the art work by matching the bonus ball number to the number on our list. This will allow complete fairness in the process and perhaps add a wee bit of extra excitement to the Lottery draw.

Of course that means there will be just 49 numbers available so move quickly and support a great cause. I know the wonderful Celtic support won’t let us down. Just follow the step by step instructions below to make your donation.


2 Make a donation of £10 (or more if you can afford it)

3 Leave a contact name or twitter handle in comments section so we can contact you if you win the picture.

4 Watch for your allocated number on Lisbon Lion’s (@tirnaog09) Twitter feed. These will be posted when 49 donations have been made

5 When all numbers are taken we will announce which National lottery draw will decide winner. This should be the next one scheduled after all 49 numbers have been taken.

6 The winner will have the picture delivered from Lisbon Lion if he/she lives in the greater Glasgow area. It will be posted to those further afield.

7, There will be 4 further prizes of A1 size Celtic posters supplied by Celtic Canvas Art. The first 4 numbers out of the National Lottery draw will be matched to list of names and those folk will receive a poster from set below.
 

May I thank each and every one of you in advance for your support. When people ask me what makes Celtic special I always say without hesitation; the fans. The Celtic support made the club what it is today. We may not be the wealthiest support in the land but we are always open to helping those less fortunate in what is an increasingly difficult world for some.
 

In doing so we keep the spirit of Brother Walfrid alive and he’d be proud that his people still remember those in need.

Hail Hail and Thank you.

 


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