Window on the Past

A charity which claimed its funds had hit rock bottom because of the National Lottery, was calling for help.

Members of the Stobhill Kidney Patients’ Association said that people weren’t donating as much cash as they used to.

Spokesman Gill Small reckoned it was because the public were saving their cash for the National Lottery.

He said that people were cutting the cash they gave to charity because they felt they were still doing their bit by buying a lottery ticket.

But the kidney patient’s group had not benefitted from the lottery charity fund. Members were knocked back when they asked for a grant the previous year.

The association was calling on local residents to support its latest cash drive.

Gill said: “We’ve really noticed a difference since the National Lottery was introduced.

“We recently held a collection in a Glasgow shopping centre. We collected about £200 in a day. Before, you could have expected to collect around £1,000 in that space of time.

“Our application for a lottery grant was refused last year, but we’re going to try again this year.

“In the meantime, we still have to boost our funds.”

Gill, who had two kidney transplants himself, said: “We really need as much help as possible.

“Even a few pence donation is a help. The people of Strathkelvin have been really generous in the past.”

15 YEARS AGO

More than 20,000 people had signed the Herald’s petition calling for general hospital services to be retained at Stobhill.

Stobhill campaigner, Councillor Charles Kennedy, said he was overwhelmed by the response to the petition, and he called for the people of East Dunbartonshire, North Glasgow and North Lanarkshire to turn out in force for a Stobhill rally.

Councillor Kennedy said: “There is a long way to go in this campaign. The response to the petition has been tremendous and we are well down the road, but we need to keep going.

“We want to see the people who have been at the previous meetings attending again, as well as people who have not yet been.

“It’s really critical that we keep the momentum going over the next three months.

“It’s one more push as part of the campaign. I detect a slight change in the attitude of the health board, and I think they are seriously rattled by the number of people coming to the meetings. We would encourage people to go out into the communities and pick up any remaining petitions and bring them to the rally.”

Stobhill campaigner Lex Gaston echoed Councillor Kennedy’s call for support.

He said: The petition has received tremendous support and I would urge anyone who has still to hand their forms in to bring them to the rally.”

10 YEARS AGO

Kirkintilloch Rob Roy looked set to quit Adamslie Park and move to a new ground.

At an EGM club members looked at proposals for the shock relocation to a purpose-built facility in the town.

Members were also addressed by a potential developer, who outlined plans to purchase the Adamslie site to build houses.

The Herald understood Rob Roy’s trustees had recommended the proposals be accepted and that the club would move away from Adamslie - if the plans were rubber-stamped by members at a second EGM.

The Rabs committee had so far refused to comment on potential sites for the new ground.

The Herald understood the club would insist the new ground was built before they left Adamslie, in order to avoid having to ground-share with another junior club.

Although the proposals were at an early stage, it was hoped the new facility would contain one grass pitch and one all-weather pitch, as well as changing rooms and a social club.

The all-weather pitch would be used primarily as a training facility for Rob Roy. However, the club also planned to hire it out to the public in a bid to generate as much income as possible.

Founded in 1878, Rob Roy’s first home ground was Coxdale Park. The club then played in the Broadcroft area before moving to Kelvindale Park in 1889. The club had been based at Adamslie Park since 1926.