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Ian Murray MP and Allan Preston visit Edinburgh Southside Club

Sporting Memories Scotland were pleased to welcome Ian Murray, MP for Edinburgh South, to a recent session at our Edinburgh Southside Club.

The Club, run in partnership with Southside Faithcare, hosted this special session at Prestonfield Golf Club, where Ian, alongside former St Johnstone, Hearts and Livingston player Allan Preston, joined in with the activities and chat that make up a Sporting Memories Club.

Bringing together members and volunteers from the local community

The session saw a number of Sporting Memories members and volunteers join from other local Clubs for an engaging session with Ian and Allan.

The session began with Ian and Allan sharing their fondest sporting memories with those in attendance, with both sharing their connections with Hearts. Both men have been supporters of the Jam Tarts since they were children, with Ian reflecting that two of his guiding principles from his family were to follow Hearts and support the Labour Party.

With Allan, one of his strongest memories from his career was playing for Hearts, after joining from Dundee United in the early 90s. Allan would go on to make 20 appearances for his boyhood Club before enjoying a six-year spell with St Johnstone.

Enjoying the conversations and quizzes

Aside from sharing their personal highlights, Ian and Allan also delved into wider aspects of their involvement with football, with Ian highlighting his role in helping to save Hearts from administration in 2013 as well as the importance of people and communities in running football clubs.

Allan reflected on how he has adapted his connection with football from the playing side to now being a pundit on radio and television, as well as supporting current players as an agent.

There were plenty of questions asked by our audience of members and volunteers, before they all got stuck into activities normally run at sessions, including a ‘Guess Who’ quiz with a football theme.

An engaging session

Donna Mackey, Partnership Manager for Sporting Memories Scotland, was thrilled with how the session went: “It was great to welcome Ian and Allan to our Edinburgh Southside Club and we’re thankful for them both to give up their time to come and join us.

“They both were really engaging with our members and volunteers; sharing their memories and also getting stuck into the other activities that took place in the session.

“I think the session showed to both Ian and Allan, how important community activities like Sporting Memories can be for older people from all backgrounds, and we’d encourage anyone from Edinburgh and beyond to give our sessions a go!”

The Edinburgh Southside Club are looking for people with an interest in sport or wanting to be part of a regular group in the local area, to join their weekly sessions at Priestfield Church. The sessions run every Thursday from 10:30am to 12pm. To find out how to join, simply email dan.southsidefaithcare@outlook.com