Six Highlands and Islands football teams win vital funding as ScottishPower’s support for womens football grows

Campbeltown Pupils, Sutherland Women, Orkney Women, Nairn St Ninian, Muir of Ord Rovers and Inverness Caledonian Thistle have each been awarded £1,000 in a ScottishPower funding competition dedicated to providing essential support for women’s and girls’ football clubs across the Highlands and Islands.

Launched specifically to support grassroots football for clubs in the area, as part of ScottishPower becoming the first ever title sponsor for SWF’s Highlands and Islands league, the competition has expanded to more teams in its second year to recognise the unique challenges faced across the region.

This marks the second year of ScottishPower’s partnership with Scottish Women’s Football, dedicated to energising women’s football at every age and stage across the country.

Six separate prizes of £1,000 were up for grabs, and the winners stood out for having clear deliverable plans to use the cash to open up further opportunities for women and girls across the Highlands and Islands. It follows on from last year’s initiative that saw four clubs successfully awarded funding, bringing the total to 10.

Campbeltown Pupils is an emerging club with no nearby opponents who will use the money to create opportunities for more girls to play, Sutherland will purchase an analytical camera to aid player development and Orkney will expand their outreach programme to give girls on the more remote islands opportunities to access the sport.

Nairn St Ninian will create separate changing facilities for their younger teams, Muir of Ord Rovers will develop more female coaches and Inverness Caledonian Thistle will purchase new kit to ensure all age groups have new balls.

Throughout the partnership, ScottishPower is working closely with SWF in supporting the women’s game for both this and future generations by driving equality and diversity all the way from grassroots to elite.

Commenting, Aileen Campbell, CEO, Scottish Women’s Football said: “Congratulations to all six clubs on their funding award. We know that all clubs face huge challenges when it comes to travel and logistics.

“Indeed, the entries from all clubs showed the unique challenges they face across the Highlands and Islands and the aspirations they have to overcome them. The competition wasn’t easy to judge but these six applications demonstrated achievable development goals that make them worthy winners, and we’re looking forward to seeing the impact that this additional funding can have for each club.

“SWF is grateful to ScottishPower for continued commitment to energising women’s and girls’ football at every level across Scotland”.

Julie Keough, Brand Director at ScottishPower said: “We have been hugely impressed by the calibre of entries to our funding competition, many of which had incredible ideas about how to support the growth of women’s and girls’ football in their area.

“It’s particularly rewarding to be able to support the game in places like Argyll and Bute, where there has been historically fewer opportunities and it’s been much harder for girls to find somewhere to play.

“It shows, once again, how important it is to provide support and funding to women’s football teams at all levels – we strongly believe we can make a difference to the grassroots game in the Highlands & Islands, and it’s something we are very proud to be playing a part in.”