A north-east football team has raised more than £3,000 for a pair of care homes by covering 300 miles in three days while taking part in daily exercise.
Members of Fyvie Football Club, which was re-established in 2018 after a hiatus of more than 20 years, decided to carry out their fundraising challenge as a way of giving back to the community for supporting them over the past two years.
The amateur team had the idea of travelling a total of 300 miles over three days, which is the distance around all of the away grounds they visited during the last season.
Thanks to their enthusiasm for the effort, the players in fact beat their target, racking-up a collective 377 miles within the time frame through a combination of running, walking and cycling.
Through fundraising, they generated £1,735 in aid of Preston House sheltered housing in Fyvie, and Badenscoth nursing home near Rothienorman.
And the club’s sponsors Flowline Specialists donated a further £1,500 – the team’s original target – to make for a grand total of £3,235 raised.
Fyvie FC chairman Connor Shepherd said: “We’ve been trying to keep the guys together and keep them engaged.
“One of the guys suggested we should do a fundraiser for the local care homes to give something back, as since we started again we’ve had so much support and help from the local community.
“We documented the whole thing on Facebook and re-shared all the match reports from each of the games we played, from the first game since re-forming, and all the wins and losses we’ve had along the way.
“About 20 guys took part, and we divided the 300 miles between everyone over the three days, asking them to do at least five miles each daily.
“A lot of the guys went well over the mileage we asked them to do.”
Mr Shepherd added: “I was so happy that we made £1,735 all by ourselves but then our sponsors Flowline approached us and told us they’d give us £1,500, and so we’re really happy that our total is over £3,000.
“We wanted to help the care homes because we wanted to support something local, and we know that a lot of elderly people in Fyvie come out and watch our games, so that tied in nicely too.
Ross Whittingham, chief executive officer of Flowline Specialists, said: “As a local business and proud supporter of Fyvie FC since it was re-established, we didn’t hesitate in deciding to double the £1,500 target set by the club for the two local care facilities.
“The team put in a fantastic effort to cover the 300 miles over three days.
“This initiative is a clear demonstration of how members of the local community can all work together to support one another at a time like this.”
To donate to the fundraising effort, visit www.justgiving.com and search for “Fyvie FC”.