Shelter Scotland’s communication boss, Gordon MacRae has thanked Scottish Football clubs for their involvement in the NoHomeKits initiative, which Celtic will be supporting this Christmas Eve in their clash with St Johnstone. Fran Alonso’s Celtic FC Women side has already done their bit for this awareness initiative in the recent match against Dundee United, which resulted in a 7-0 home win for Celtic so something similar on Christmas Eve would be lovely, Hoops or no Hoops.
So on 24 December, we will see Celtic take on St Johnstone in Paradise and both teams won’t be wearing their usual attire as both Celtic and St Johnstone will be wearing their away colours to support this new initiative by raising awareness for the growing number of people who do not have a safe or secure place to call home. It is likely that we will see the Bhoys wearing their black and green stripped-away kit, while St Johnstone will be supporting their purple-away kit.
In the build-up to the clash, Gordon MacRae explained the importance of the initiative and commented on how everyone can play a part and help out this Christmastime. As reported by SkySports, MacRae said…
“Well, we were delighted to be invited to speak at the AGM earlier this year and talk to them about that connection that the football community has with the idea of home.”
“Home stadium, home colours, home game. It makes sense to be able to talk through football about the people who don’t have the luxury of a home.”
“Because we know this year, with the cost of living crisis making it harder for people to keep a home, we wanted to draw attention to the thousands of children and households who will spend this Christmas without a safe place to call home.”
“Right now in Scotland, every 90 minutes, so the length of one of the games this weekend, five households become homeless.”
“And that’s just because it’s really difficult to afford a home, keep a home, navigate a broken housing system. And that’s where Shelter Scotland comes in. We are there, on people’s side, to give them the advice and support they need to keep and find a new home.
“And that’s why the NoHomeKit initiative, by asking football fans, at the ground or on their sofa, to wear their away kit or third kit and then text HOME to 708000, donate £5.
“£1 for every family that will lose their family during that game, then it’s a great way to highlight this important issue, and it’s wonderful that the SPFL and the SWPL are fully behind this initiative.”
It’s worth remembering that this isn’t Celtic’s first involvement with the NoHomeKit initiative, with the Celtic Women’s team wearing their away kit earlier this month in their clash with Dundee United.
So, we won’t see Celtic wearing our famous hoops this Christmas Eve, but with this Winter being an especially tough time for many, the cause is certainly justified.
