What a great turnout at Lochmaben this afternoon for our charity event.

We took over the running of the local community centre at the beginning of June and today we teamed up with the local Jaybees nursery to raise money for TSA (Tuberous Sclerosis Association) in support of three year old Aeryn. 

Aeryn who suffers from the condition has been with Jaybees since she was a baby, Georgia her key worker was delighted with the number of kids who turned up and paid £3 for an hour long training session with Manager Allan Johnston who was joined by Stephen Dobbie, Kevin Holt, Jack Leighfield, Ewan Gourlay and Ross Irving.  She said “This means so much to us.  We pick a charity each year and this year we decided to raise money for TSA.  We held a coffee morning on Saturday which was well attended so to follow that with the football is fantastic.  It means a lot to us and to Aeryn’s family.  The condition means that she is about a year behind so we are working towards helping her make the transition into play-school, so to raise any money to help buy the equipment she needs or to help the charity is great”.

As well as raising money for the charity it was a chance for people to have a look around the facilities we now have in Lochmaben. 

There is currently a gym on site which will be upgraded in due course.  There are also meeting rooms and a large hall.

Since taking over the centre we have introduced a Thursday football club for pre and primary school children.  Pre-school sessions start at half past 3 for an hour before the primary school kids take over for their hour long session.  It is growing all the time and we now have around 40 kids who regularly attend.

We also held a successful soccer camp during the summer with another planned for the October holidays.

As well as the sessions that we run and the gym there are 14 local groups who use the centre.  Other sports on offer at the centre include, Taekwondo, Tiger Cubs, Pickleball and Gymnastics.

Reserve team manager, Eddie Warwick who also manages the centre said “Although we have taken over the running of the club it is still very much a community facility.  The current groups will continue to use it and we encourage others to start taking advantage of what’s on offer.  The 14 groups who use it just now are all Lochmaben Action Groups and we will be working closely with them as we aim to make the centre the hub of the community as they are the life of the building.  It’s a great facility in a great location within the vicinity of local primary school so it is ideal for the kids”.

The centre is open six days a week. 

Monday – 1230 – 2100

Tuesday – 1000 – 2100

Wednesday – 1000 – 2100

Thursday – 10000 – 2100

Friday – 1500 – 2100

Saturday – 1100 - 1430