500 people in a room? Dancing? Hugging? Through coronavirus and multiple cancellations and postponements, we thought it would never come. After being unable to meet up for so long, 2022’s Kano Foundation End of Season Dance was a special one.

We originally booked the venue in 2019 and it was fantastic to finally celebrate The Kano’s achievements together and raise some much-appreciated money for The Kano kids.

The Venue

This year’s dance was held in The Normandy Hotel, just outside Glasgow. It’s pretty difficult to find a venue that can hold all of our friends, volunteers, and supporters and thankfully The Normandy fit the bill. The place looked great on the night, mainly down to Gillian’s fantastic eye for design. Being a hotel, it also meant we could all stay over and party into the wee hours. Something which became even more important when we found out there was to be a Celtic Rangers game the following day…

The Evening 

We kicked the evening off with a champagne reception where old friends and acquaintances got to catch up while they checked out whether they’d won a raffle. We had some brilliant prizes there and really appreciate every donation. A huge shout out must go to Theresa and Tommy who ran the raffle. Despite a massive amount of prizes, they made it look so easy and are a huge asset to The Kano. A special thanks also to Celtic FC SLO JP, who brought the League Cup trophy along with him so we everyone could get some pictures before they sat down to dinner. And to former Celtic Captain Tom Boyd who had everyone howling with his funny patter and Celtic stories.

Stomachs lined, the party could really start. Joe began the auction which had some fantastic prizes on offer, including a signed Larrson, Sutton, and Hartson picture by Geo Thomson which was won by Gerard Hart for a fantastic sum, and a Legends picture won by Gillian Quinn. The most bid-upon prize was probably a pair of tickets to the Glasgow Derby the next day though – likely the last pair together in the city.

Congratulations to Christie McNellis whose generous sister won them for her!

After a game of Heads and Tails, we showed our end of season video – a recap of all things Kano from the past season. From welcoming our 11,000th kid to going to our first women’s game, it was great to look back on all that was achieved. The highlight of the video though was a surprise cameo from Celtic Manager Ange Postecoglou and Captain Calmac, both who mentioned seeing and hearing The Kano kids during the games and being buoyed on knowing they were there.

Videos watched and prizes doled out, the dancing could begin. The music was provided by the fantastic MC4 Function Band who had the floor full all night. Especially later on when a couple of drinks had been consumed.

Thank you also to former trustee Pat Griffin who DJed us into the wee hours. Fat Boy Slim will be watching his back with those skills on display. 

We think it’s safe to say a good night was had by everyone, although there were definitely a few sore heads at the game the next day.

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The Kano Foundation |
Keeping Football Free for Kids | Registered Scottish Charity No. SC042477