You did this in 2016

Like you, I get tired of this place sometimes. We’ve all got plenty of other things going on in our lives, plenty of calls on our time and energy, the last thing we need is to deal with the consequences of a narrow win when a comprehensive victory was expected, but, of course, the compensations are immeasurable.

You get home on Christmas Eve, after a long day, and a longer year, and you read something like this:

The donor had been in touch and asked what the next project was.  I’ve big plans for 2017. What I’m thinking is that we use the Anniversary Year to push the core values of our community – and our club – to new levels. Like before, we’re going to do work for many causes, but I’ve a notion that the time is right to engage with Celtic fans to a greater extent than has been possible before.

A decade or so into online football communities has given us enough material to measure the impact they have had on clubs, the media and how fans relate, but what is clear, is that we are the first generation for whom it has been possible to engage an entire fan base on helping those who are most in need.

In earlier times this kind of activity was often limited to those collected together in a hall. The call wasn’t able to reach onto your lap (as it is right now). We have to acknowledge this is a new time, with new opportunities to reinvigorate our club with its founding values.

Society changes, the Celtic support has changed. We can’t infuse future generations with a love of the old country’. Frankly, it you follow the demographics, future generations of Celtic supporters will increasingly come from the native population, or England, Eastern Europe, Pakistan or elsewhere. The ‘old country’ will matter less.

What we can do is put our founding value at the core of who we are. Win, lose or draw, our mission as Celtic supporters is to be there for those most in need.

The is what we are going to do in 2017. That £1000 (+ gift aid) is the second substantial donation Mary’s Meals already have towards putting food on the table of Sean Devereux Primary School, Liberia, for a year. We’ll talk more about the work of Sean soon, and about the school in his memory.

This, of course, is just one act in the book of what you did in 2016.  I honestly don’t know how many meals were paid for, it must be around 100,000, kids were aided, and the magnificent work of Foundation was supported we discussed on Thursday was helped throughout.

We’ll have a raffle coming up on Boxing Day, which will see someone collect two tickets for Ibrox on Hogmany, with money going to the School, so look out for it – it will only be live for a couple of days.

You deserve a great Christmas – so make sure you have one!

Paul