Larne Football Club have announced that the club and their first team players have come forward with a combined donation as a show of support during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The donation to the fantastic community work by the Antiville Bonfire and Residents Committee, which is headed up by the club’s Head Steward and Chairman of the group Alan Withers, have been working with Lynas Foodservice who provide bulk stock to make up food parcels for those in need over the past number of weeks. The group also act as a delivery service for similar community projects run by our sponsors, Marty Catering Services and the Curran Court Hotel in a cross community venture across Larne town.

The amount raised by the players has been matched by the club, bringing the total to £2630.

Speaking about the project Alan Withers said: “As a committee we decided that all funds from our budget for cultural and heritage celebrations would be better spent supporting our local community in this difficult time.

“Our group of volunteers have been running a weekly delivery service for the past three weeks, sometimes up to two or three times per week to ensure that those who are classed as vulnerable during this period get the essential items they require. Currently we cater for 100 residents with the help of Lynas Food, Marty’s Catering Service and the Curran Court, with these numbers rising week by week.

“We are determined to keep this service going no matter how many people require the use of our service, whether that be to deliver food or simply to do an essential shop run. I am overwhelmed by the support that the players of Larne FC have shown, which will allow us to cope with increasing demand placed on our service.

“I would like to urge anyone who needs support during this time of hardship to get in touch with myself or any of our volunteers. This is a cross-community project for our group, we have no boundaries and want to help as many people as possible. Once again, I would like to thank the players and Kenny Bruce for their show of support.”

Regarding the player’s contribution, club captain Jeff Hughes stated “Conor Devlin came to me with the idea of supporting Alan’s group in the form of a donation and we immediately asked the rest of the squad who fully supported the idea.

“Alan, like so many others in the town puts a lot of hard work into the club and us players know how well looked after we are so decided to try and help where we could.”

In addition to the club donation proceeds raised from matchday parking at First Larne Presbyterian has been donated to help in the fight against Covid-19.

Throughout the season, the car park of First Larne opens its gates to dozen of cars and helps to ease congestion around Inver Park. Many Larne fans regularly take up this service, donating to charity and church organisations on their way into the car park.

The organisers of this scheme have decided to pass on £1,000 to the local NHS trust, in their efforts to support frontline staff at this time.

Stephen Ross, speaking on behalf of the First Larne Carpark group said: “We have decided that the need of others is much greater at this time than our own need, so have decided as a group to pass the money onto the NHS.

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