The club will once again turn their hand to giving charitable causes in the local community a much-needed boost this Christmas, collecting presents for children and older people plus food and toiletries.

Club Captain Stuart Roy, who is fronting the campaign for the second year running with support from the club committee and youth and senior coaches said: “This year we are supporting Shield Fife and our main focus will be on gathering donations which can be used as Christmas gifts, particularly for teenagers and older people.

“Sadly, there are many older people within our local community who have experienced a great deal of isolation and loneliness due to the pandemic, and the festive period is often a time when older people are faced with increased periods of isolation.

“Nobody wants to be lonely at Christmas, and so we hope that our donations might go some way in supporting older people in the community to feel loved and thought of.

“Young people have also had a really hard time over the pandemic too,” added Roy.

“Especially those who have disabilities, or perhaps act as young carers to family members, so we will also be focusing on collecting gifts for teens this year too.”

Last year, the club donated more than 700 kilograms of food, and hundreds presents for young children to Dunfermline Foodbank and Home Start Dunfermline.

Roy added: “I’m really proud of the club for coming together to deliver something positive for those in need, especially after what has been an incredibly difficult couple of years. Last year’s campaign was very successful and we want to build on that this year.

“It’s fantastic to be continuing with this annual campaign, demonstrating the club’s ambition to develop a long-standing commitment to support and work collaboratively with our local community.

“The players, coaches, volunteers and members of our club always step up when needed. It’s great to know that everyone’s generosity is going to make Christmas that bit better for so many people in area.”

Starting on Friday 12 November, Dunfermline RFC’s Christmas campaign will last over five weeks, commencing on Sunday 19 December.

Non-club members interested in supporting the campaign can do so by dropping donations off at McKane Park, Limekilns Road between 6.30pm and 7.30pm every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday commencing 17 November till 17 December.