Telford College has teamed up with Leith Athletic, one of the Capital’s youth football clubs, to restore a vital training facility that was destroyed by fire last month.
Hundreds of children were left without their changing room when a cabin went on fire in June, leaving the club with a large repair bill which may run to thousands of pounds. Edinburgh’s largest college has offered to fully restore the wooden cabin, at John’s Place, enlisting the establishment’s newly enrolled apprentices to carry out the work.
John Laing, sector business senior manager at Edinburgh’s Telford College, said: “We’re more than happy to invest the students’ time in this project, which will not only ensure the club can now use its resources in other areas, but also restore it to full working order.
“This will be a great project for our first year apprentices as they will be putting their skills back in the community from the word go, to benefit one of the largest and most successful clubs in the East of Scotland.”
The club was established in 1996 and now has over 600 children aged between five and 21 playing every week.
Club president Albert Bungay said: “We’re very grateful to the College for helping us repair the fire damaged hut as to replace it would have left us very badly out of pocket.
“Although we were very upset when we discovered our hut had been damaged, the generous offer will allow us to start the new season on a fresh foot”.
Mike Dibsdall, OBE (pictured), Principal at Edinburgh’s Telford College, said: “We’re very keen as a college to support our community and play a key role in the development of future generations. Leith Athletic is the perfect example of a strong community-based group and we are always eager to put our resources to good use both inside and outside the classroom.”
Edinburgh’s Telford College currently has around 17,000 students and 600 members of staff.
