THE Tartan Army is set to donate more than $20,000 to charities in the US region of Providence, Rhode Island, after being welcomed with "open arms" after struggling to find accommodation in nearby Boston.
Providence is closer to the Boston Stadium (Gillette Stadium) in Foxborough, where the national team kicked off its World Cup campaign with a 1-0 victory over Haiti, than Boston city itself, offering a less expensive and more convenient temporary home for thousands of Scottish fans.
Scottish fans are now set to repay the hospitality shown by their American hosts by making donations to mental health and grassroots football organisations in the region.
As the Tartan Army marches to 195 District Park on Thursday ahead of a music festival, a cheque of $10,000 will be given to Hasbro Children’s hospital cancer unit, a co-ordinator for the Tartan Army has said.
David Hood, who has travelled to the United States from Balloch, said: "It’s going to help parents out and going to help kids get better.
"It’s going to help families during a traumatic period in their life, a child with cancer"
The performance is to be hosted by The Guild PVD and will feature The Tartan Army Pipers and Rhode Island Highlanders Pipe Band, and a number of other musical groups.
The Rhode Island pipers are also set to receive a four-figure donation, with $6500 earmarked to develop education programmes for children, with Hood saying: "This money specifically helps set up an education program so they can get a school that helps children learn bagpipes. We are going to fund that for the first two years.”
A grassroots football programme in the state will also be supported with $10,000 to help underprivileged children get into the sport.
Craig Ferguson, the mental-health campaigner who has walked more than 3200 miles across the US, raising more than £1 million for Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH) will also see his donation tally rise by another $6500 thanks to a Tartan Army donation.
Hood explained that the Scottish fans have been welcomed with open arms to the US state, with local authorities, emergency services and the local tourist board going "above and beyond" for the Tartan Army.
“When we started planning this back in January, we spoke to the council, the tourist planning team, we spoke to the Providence police and fire, every single one of them were welcoming with open arms,” he said. ”They couldn’t do enough for us. These guys have gone above and beyond."
“In Providence alone, with the numbers we’ve got here, we estimate Scottish people will spend $2500 their time here with accommodations, restaurants and bars,” he said. "It’s given an injection of $35 million to Providence. Those guys who were proactive at the start have benefitted.”
