Former pupils of two local schools who reunite every year for a charity football match have raised more than £7500 for mental health charities.
For more than a decade the Class of 2012 Reunion Game has seen the Stirling High and Bannockburn High classes of that year get together for a game of football, followed by a trip to the pub.
This year’s match took place at Stirling High School’s astroturf, where the lads also organised a family fun day.
Calum Davidson, one of the organisers, said: “It was a brilliant day.
“It was an overwhelming success. We beat all of our previous fundraising totals, and raised a huge £7569.15 for Action in Mind.
“We wanted this year to be bigger and better than ever, with it being our tenth year of hosting this match – so we had a family fun day organised to run alongside the football during the day with a bouncy castle, army assault course, beat the goalie, face painting, bake sale and more to keep all of the spectators entertained.
“A huge thank you to Bounce-On bouncy castle hire, from Alloa, who saved the day when our original bouncy castle supplier cancelled on the morning of the game.
“We then hosted the after match function at McQ’s in Bannockburn, which included a race night and live music from Bannockburn’s own Scott McGill. Thank you to all of the staff at McQs and to Scott for putting on a great night.”
The game itself was a “tale of two halves” said Calum.
“Bannockburn goalkeeper Stephen McKay put in a man of the match performance to keep the scores level at 0-0 at half time and then saved a Jamie Benson penalty early in the second half.
“However, Bannockburn really moved up the gears as the game went on, with the match finishing 5-1 to Bannockburn.
“Scorers for Bannockburn were Dave Cross (times two), Lewis Palmer, Steven Brisbane and Harry Dukes. Scorer for Stirling was Lewis Park.
“As well as Stephen receiving the Man of the Match award on the night, we also presented a special Player of the Decade award to Adam Flint (Stirling High).
“Adam is not a regular footballer by any means, but has turned up every single year for the past 10 showing unbelievable commitment and putting in a performance as well as contributing huge amounts to the raffle and fundraising totals – epitomising the spirit in which the Class of 2012 Reunion Game is played.”
The event has grown greatly over the years, raising more and more funds for mental health charities every year.
“Stephen and I have been organising this match for the past nine years on our own,” said Calum, “but when we decided we wanted to grow it into a fun day and evening function we knew we’d need some help – so the match now has an official committee set up comprised of Dave Cross, Kenny Karte, Colin McGregor, Shaun Monaghan and the two of us to help share the load.
“We genuinely couldn’t have had the success we had today without them so a huge thank you for stepping in and organising this year with us.
“Mhairi and Karen from Action in Mind have also been a great support with sharing our posts on social media and coming along on the day to help with the stalls and providing T-shirts and collection buckets for us.
“We started this game as a one-off game when we left school, but every year it’s continued to grow and the boys keep turning up to keep the tradition going.
“I’m so proud of everyone involved and the amount of money we’ve raised for various mental health charities in Scotland over the years.
“This win for Bannockburn ties the scores up at five wins each after 10 years – so it looks like we will have to go again next year!”
