Raith Rovers fans make donation to support Cottage Centre appeal

Raith Rovers fans, buoyed by the side’s recent run of form, have been attending home and away games in their droves. This has allowed one supporters bus the opportunity to give back to the Kirkcaldy community.

Rovers fan Stevie Gray is one of those organising the bus and he said surplus cash from recent trips have allowed the bus to purchase the make donations to a number of causes, with the most recent being the Cottage donation.

He said: “With the extra money, I always planned to subsidise the buses, like the Inverness bus last weekend. And with the extra money I was wanting to do maybe three or four donations a season. The first one was to let a young boy be a mascot at the Rovers.”

And with a Scottish Cup tie against SPFL Premiership side Livingston on the horizon, Stevie said they were able to make the bumper donation to the appeal.

He continued: “And then we were going to give £100 to the Cottage but because we drew Livingston in the Scottish Cup, we’ve actually been able to give £200.”

The Cottage appeal hopes to raise £45,000 in funds to distribute gifts to those in need and the Rovers fans' donation will allow toys to be given to a range of ages, something that is increasingly important as the Cottage gears up for another tough Christmas Appeal.

The team need an increasing amount of monetary donations each year to allow them to buy the food required for the survival packs and also to provide families with the ability to pay for utilities such as heating and electricity and this year’s appeal has been described as “our biggest challenge yet” by Cottage Centre manager, Pauline Buchan.

The Cottage Centre’s festive appeal started in 2010 when it supported around 100 families. Now it helps around 2000 people. All the money donated will go to making up the survival packs which include essentials as well as some toys for children.

Donations of money can be made via bank transfer to the Cottage Centre - sort code 80-16-84, account number: 06006462