The exceptional Celtic Movement
When this publishes, I should be a few kilometres into the Great Scottish Run. These events can be humbling. You see people there with messages on their shirts. ‘The big C’ gets a lot of mentions, in many of its forms, as does heart disease and conditions most of us will, fortunately, be less familiar with. Some simply have a loved one’s smiling photograph on their back. Their former feeling of helplessness matured into purposeful action.
I’m running for Celtic Charity’s 1254125 campaign. This is not something controlled or even organised by the club, but it is fundamental to what Celtic Football Club is. The Celtic Movement was called together in a church hall in November 1887 to alleviate the distress of poverty in those unable to feed themselves. It is different from other clubs because it started differently and has since walked unfamiliar roads.
The spirit to help others has been increasingly self-evident in recent years but I am sure the commitment has become more embedded as a result of 1254125. It is now part of our routine, what we know to expect from ourselves.
We will only stay different if you and I continue to insist we walk (or run) unfamiliar roads. We all worry about where our club is going. There is little we can do about many potential dangers but we can make sure Celtic remains anchored to the spirit which founded it. You can support 1254125 through the MyDonate page I setup to convince me I shouldn’t give up halfway through this run. Your support is appreciated.
Yesterday we lost Cllr George Ryan, or St John Doyle, as he was known on these pages. George touched the lives of hundreds of people but unless you were in direct contact, you would not know what he did for the people of Glasgow, for Celtic supporters in difficulty, or even for the Thai Tims. He was an exceptional Celtic man who lived the way exceptional Celtic people have ever since that meeting in St Mary’s Hall.
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