Mallaig youth get a boost from CalMac Fund

Young people in the Mallaig area are set to benefit from two awards from ferry operator CalMac's Community Fund.

Mallaig Football Club and Mallaig Primary School Parent Council both successfully applied to the fund during the latest funding round.

The award will help sustain Mallaig FC's recently established under 18s team and help to ensure young people in the area continue their engagement in the sport.

'If it wasn't for the support we get from Calmac on a weekly basis during the season it would not be viable for us to have league football in Mallaig. This grant towards the Mallaig FC Youth Project further exemplifies this support and we cannot thank Calmac enough. These funds will be of huge benefit to the young footballers in our community and go a long way to ensure sustainability for structured youth football on the Mallaig peninsula for many years to come,' said Damian Kenning from the club. 

Mallaig Primary School Parent Council have identified a lack of opportunities for pupils to engage in outdoor activities. Support from CalMac will enable them to organise a Winter Activity Residential where pupils can take part in range of supervised outdoor pursuits 

CalMac's Community Fund drives social value by supporting non profit organisations, based in a mainland port or island the company serves, delivering projects to benefit the lives of children and young people living in west coast communities. Organisations can apply for an award between £500 to £2000. 

So far the Fund has supported 76 projects from woman's football in the Outer Hebrides, to the Campbeltown Sea Cadets and a Gaelic youth club on Skye. 

Each application was judged by a screening panel of young people recruited from across the company's network, in partnership with Young Scot.

'Both these projects were seen by the judges as worthy of support as they were opening up opportunities for young people in the area that they would not normally have access to,' said CalMac's Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Gordon McKillop.