Wick Academy chairman Pat Miller has thanked the club for digging deep to help an avid fan produce much-needed personal protective equipment.
A donation of £1,000 has been made from contributions by the club committee, staff and players, to supporter Chris Aitken, who is using a 3D printer to make faceguards and masks for local care homes and hospitals.
The money will be put towards materials Aitken needs to keep making the vital PPE and Miller said it was a gesture the country’s most northerly senior club were happy to make.
He said: “It was the manager Gary (Manson) that started the ball rolling. They were going to be off on a jaunt for the end of the season, with cash collected through fines.
“Gary phoned me on Friday and said what they were doing and asked if the club was prepared to do something as well.
I’m really humbled by the community response to the Caithness team of 3D printers who are trying our best to help. Massive thanks to @WickAcademyFC @gazm3 who continually show their support for local causes.
We’re now on track to produce 500 masks and guards for #Caithness https://t.co/49Kee0mBi7
— Chris Aitken (@skipperAitken) April 4, 2020
“I phoned the committee and we all chipped in. I’m quite delighted they’ve done that, as they could have easily held on to the money for next season.
“It was a big gesture to forgo that and Chris is a great supporter anyway, so we wanted to give something back to our local community.
“We all class footballers as being all about themselves but you have a bunch of guys there that are reacting to everything they’re seeing in the news and in the papers.”
Wick’s players have also given up their wages for what would have amounted to the remainder of the season.
They do not get paid over the summer months when there is no football.
The equipment produced by Chris Aitken, a teacher at Wick High School, is
being used to help those dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
He tweeted on Saturday that they were on track to make 500 masks and guards for the Caithness region.
Miller added: “I think he put a shout out saying he was running short of materials and our guys picked up on that. Because he’s a teacher, a lot of our under-17s team know him through school.”