A mum of a pupil at Corstorphine Primary has made an impassioned plea to businesses in the capital to help cover the costs of a new team kit.
Sheena Carroll, from Corstorphine, is mother to son Blair Carroll, eight, who plays for the primary four football team at the West Edinburgh school.
Sheena said that the primary four pupils at the school made up two teams in the local school leagues, but that they were left looking more like a group of misfits than a solid team unit due to a lack of strips and kit for match days.
Prior to Christmas, the team took part in a competition and all had to wear their own red top to represent the school.
In an attempt to address this, she took to social media to ask for the help of local businesses in sponsoring the new kits for the team that includes both boys and girls.
The teams would like to produce a full strip set for up to 14 players, with the potential for more, and would also like training tops to be included for kids to wear as they warm up.
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The team said they are more than willing to have the branding of the company positioned on their shirts to act as an advertisement.
They hope that at the end of P5, players would then hand the strips down to the year below them – keeping up with the reuse and recycle tradition of the school.
Sheena posted on Facebook: “I’m a parent of children at Corstorphine Primary and this year is the return of school football! Hurrah!
“Primary four have entered two teams in the local schools leagues but we need to look more like a team. So we are looking to buy a team kit for all players (hopefully a set that will last until P5 at least).
“We’d love to have a local business as shirt sponsor and to help to contribute alongside parents to the cost of a team kit. In return we will add a logo onto the tops.
“The total cost for strips for 20 players would be around £1200.
“We will also fundraise alongside this. Any sponsorship would be grateful to bring the cost down for us parents.
“If you are able to contribute then that would be fantastic, please direct message me for more details.
“We totally understand the challenges businesses are going through at the moment, but we know how much local businesses like to support the local community, so hopefully this is something you would like to be involved in.”
When speaking to Edinburgh Live, she added: “There is a sense of uplifting their emotions by helping us to look and feel like a team. It would be great to use the school’s badge when representing Corstorphine at tournaments. A lot of the kids play for different clubs, some do not play at all, so it is really good to get them an opportunity to play with their school friends under one banner.
“We as parents would definitely look to contribute but at the moment we are just looking for some help from a local business. We understand it has been a really difficult time for businesses with Covid but the kids having their own strips would give them such a lift as school football returns.”
Anyone wishing to support the football team can do so by contacting Sheena via her email address here: [email protected]
