Nairn care home St Olaf teams up with Inverness Clachnacuddin Youth Development Team with sponsorship in bid to strengthen links with sports community
A Nairn care home has teamed up with an Inverness youth football team in a bid to strengthen intergenerational links.
Care home provider Meallmore, who runs St Olaf, has become a sponsor for Merkinch-based Clachnacuddin Youth Development Team on behalf of the Cawdor Road-based care home.
As part of the partnership, Meallmore has sponsored an advertising board on the pitch side at Grant Street Park — home of the club since the ground opened in 1886.
St Olaf residents, Donald Campbell, David Isaac and Sylvia Cameron, went along to see the unveiling of the board and meet some of the players from the under 16, under 14 and 2013 teams.
Kath Allan, care home manager at St Olaf Care Home said: “It’s incredibly important to us to ensure we keep close ties between our residents and the local community, so we’re very happy to give something back as part of this. “Some of the Clachnacuddin team have previously volunteered at St Olaf, so we already have a close connection with the club, and we’re keen to further develop intergenerational links, as it brings a lot of joy to our residents.
“We had a great day going along to explore the grounds and see new advert in situ. All three residents had a vested interest - Donald likes watching football at the weekends, David used to play football and Sylvia lived in inverness so is familiar with the club. They really enjoyed meeting some of the players, and we had lovely chats on the way home about how smart the boys were in their tracksuits. We’re looking forward to following the club more closely and hopefully going along to some games when the weather warms up.”
The Development has teams from under 11 years of age up to under 18 years of age, with a total of approximately 140 young people taking part and representing Clachnacuddin F.C.
Paul Maclennan, head of development at Clachnacuddin Youth Development said: “We’re a volunteer-run club and rely on sponsorship like this from Meallmore to be able to ensure our young players have access to the latest equipment and training to allow them to develop and compete effectively in the league.
“It was fantastic to welcome Donald, David and Sylvia to Grant Street Park and the lads enjoyed showing them round. We hope to have them along again soon to watch a game or two!”
