Stirling Albion fans strap on walking shoes for latest fundraiser to support Gambian team

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A campaign supporting an African football club with links all the way back to Stirling has recently raised thousands of pounds following a special walk.The Big Walk saw long-time supporters of the Gambinos stage a six-hour walk at the end of last month around King’s Park with the aim of raising funds for the football team, which is based in the village of Mandinary in the Gambia.Binos fans Bill and Janet Gillespie first visited the West African country back in 2009 for their 25th wedding anniversary and watched a local team play in a cup final.The club had no matching kit and no boots - so they vowed to offer the club and their community support, with the team changing its name to the Gambinos to represent the support from the Stirling fans.The walk saw a staggering 19 miles covered around the park, with participants aged from 5 to 70 taking part on the day.It has raised almost £1700 for the campaign, which was supported by Albion players, backroom staff, supporters, family and friends - as well as generous donors without links to the club who were touched by the story of the Gambinos.Among those taking part was former Stirling Albion chairman Stuart Brown and his family - with Bill also pulling on his trainers to take part.The fruits of their labour were received earlier this week, with the first food deliveries from the Big Walk received in the village.In an update on the online fundraising page, Bill said: “Since Covid-19 life in the Gambia has been much harder for people because the tourist trade was the only big employer and it closed completely.“Four years on, there has been a little improvement with some tourism opening back up but unemployment is still sky high with no help from the Government by way of money or