Looking To The Future With New Trustees

Anyone who has been involved in any way with The Kano over the years will have come into contact with Trustee Pat Griffin. Part of The Kano since our earliest days, Pat did match allocations, he maintained the website, he dealt with merchandise, and he was the main point of contact for many groups. 

But in August 2021, Pat decided to step down from The Kano for personal reasons. (You might not have known this if you were at this year’s dance as he spent half the night looking for wires, DJing, and running errands as always!) 

Of course, Pat’s expertise needed a replacement so the existing Trustees put out an advert looking for new members. The response was overwhelming and shows just how far and wide The Kano reaches. 

The first new Trustee brought onboard was Gary Adam from the USA – originally from Scotland as he likes to remind us! 

We’ve always wanted to expand the reaches of The Kano Foundation overseas and Gary was the obvious option. 

We were still looking for one more trustee though…

While The Kano is currently focused on taking kids to Celtic matches, there is so much more we all hope to do. We have dreams of working with other clubs to set up similar charities there, to take the kids to other sports, to have a permanent “base” for The Kano Foundation, and much more.

Bringing people in who had experience in fundraising, law, media, PR, and digital marketing seemed like a great step towards achieving some of those long term dreams.

So, rather than one, we took on six new Trustees who were currently working or had experience in these areas: 

JP Charles: JP works in PR for American software giant Oracle and brings a wealth of knowledge. JP’s a busy dad with a love for all things football, who’s been the “voice” of The Kano across many podcasts over the last few months.

Roddy Byers: Head of Funding at The Big Lottery Fund (Scotland), Roddy’s experience of fundraising and charities made him an obvious choice for Kano Trustee.

Roddy’s spent a huge amount of time researching funds and giving and works tirelessly to drive The Kano forwards.

Aidan O’Donnell: Paralegal Aidan has been putting us all through our paces ensuring we are complying with all the relevant laws, guidance, and clauses. (We are. Phew.)   When Aidan’s not cheering on the bhoys at Celtic Park, he’s traveling and holidaying around the UK and the world. 

Ann Duffy: When she’s not working as Children and Young People Health Improvement Lead for the NHS, Ann is swimming in freezing water or doing outside yoga in her Celtic hat.

Always championing the voice of the The Kano Kids, Ann’s been instrumental in organising development days 

Claire Murray: Marketing Manager Claire has been working with the social team to get our digital marketing into shape so even more people know about The Kano. Hailing from Buckie, she’s a big fan of any football team in green and white hoops.

Anthony McVeigh: Through his work as an Individual Giving Manager with The University of Strathclyde and previously SCIAF, Anthony brings a wealth of knowledge in all things charities and fundraising to The Kano Fundraising.

Say hi to the new trustees if you see them around.

News and Updates

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