Highland Rugby Club ready to help with anything amidst coronavirus pandemic
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Highland Rugby Club are the latest outfit to pledge to help their local community in the coming weeks.
With training and matches cancelled, and many fans forced to stay at home through self-isolation, the Canal Park club have offered to help run errands to ease the burden on people around Inverness, and the club's sponsors.
The club's development officer Iain Chisholm is co-ordinating the efforts to help, and head coach Dave Carson says that there was an immediate response when Chisholm first suggested the idea.
"Iain put out a post on the players' page with what we're planning to do, and there was something like 62 likes from players and committee guys saying they would absolutely be able to help with anything," Carson said.
"If folk need a hand with anything – whether that be dogs, gardens, shopping, firewood, anything, we'll help. My WhatsApp nearly exploded with all the responses coming within the hour.
"It just shows what we've harnessed over these last few years.
"We've talked about our team spirit so many times when we've been down and come back and won games we didn't deserve to win, the team spirit shone through then and it's exactly the same now.
"We're mucking together to help any of the members or the wider community around Inverness out."
Highland's growth from Caledonia North Two through four tiers to National One has meant a big increase in fans, members and sponsors.
Carson is well aware of that fact, and says now is the chance to give something back to their supporters.
"We've built up over the last six years or so, and it's been getting bigger and bigger with all the supporters we get coming down," he explained.
"There are a lot of old folk as well, and I'm sure they will be looking after themselves and not going out too much, all the members and former players.
"It's our sponsors as well, they're a lot of local, independent companies, and we need to support them because they've certainly supported us massively over these last few years with all the funding they've given us.
"This week I was down at one of the wee independent garages that sponsor us, and they were worried what's going to happen if they get shut down.
"It's important that all the members keep supporting our sponsors and local, independent companies as much as we can."
- Anyone who would like to ask Highland Rugby Club for help should contact Iain Chisholm on 07436 796326, iain@highlandrugbyclub.org or through the club's social media channels.
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