Shire offering free entry to Braves match as part of charity drive

Kicking off at 3pm on Saturday at the Falkirk Stadium, the club have selected the match as their annual festive charity drive.

When You Wish Upon a Star is a charity for children aged 4 to 16 with life threatening illnesses and aims to grant their wishes and dream activities/trips. During December they organise Polar Express trips to Lapland amongst other activities.

Ian Fleming, director at the club was pleased to continue the club’s tradition with such a deserving cause.

“We always try to pick a home match close to Christmas time for our free entry game. We've had things like the local food bank as our chosen drive and they have all gone down really successfully in the past. It is a tough time of year for so many people and as a club we want to give back to the Falkirk community in some way,” he said.

Fleming has seen first-hand the work the charity has carried out and was delighted to have chosen When You Wish Upon a Star, saying:

“Around six years ago one of our fans had asked us if we could give him a pennant to take over to Germany because he was travelling with his grandson for specialist treatment that could only be completed abroad because the condition he had was so rare, and of course we were happy to help out.

“I had then found out it was a young fan that attended our matches every weekend and it just hit home how crucial the work they do is and how close to home things like this are.

“It is a lovely story and I can remember being told he was being visited by Craig Gordon at one point while he was in hospital here and Craig had said to him he could come along to a Celtic game as his guest but he replied only if Shire weren’t playing that day!”

He added: “The work they have done with him is just one example but it just shows the work the charity does and it was one that we feel really strongly about.”

Speaking about the match on Saturday he said: “The idea is to get as many people through the gates as possible and we only ask for a donation that you can afford.”

Manager Derek Ure was delighted with the club’s commitment to the local community, saying: “Clubs at our level always do our bit for the community and the charity chosen this weekend is a brilliant cause. I’ve had, like many people, personal experiences with your little ones going through tough times with illness and the work they do goes such a long way for families.

“Hopefully we can get a few new faces through the gates and we can have a healthy donation pot to give over to them.”