introduction & history
Celtic Football Club was formed in the city of Glasgow in 1888, principally to utilise a football club as a means of raising money for the poor of the city’s East End.
In 1888, although Glasgow was the rich and prosperous second city of the British Empire, the city’s East End was greatly impoverished with high rates of child mortality. The founder of the Club was a local Marist Brother of Irish origin, who recognised the need for positive social integration between the Scottish and Irish living in Glasgow, hence the name Celtic, emphasising a bridge of cultures across the Irish Sea.
Celtic Football Club is a major social institution in Scottish life and has supporters all over the world, mainly expatriates of Scotland and Ireland.
Over the last century, Celtic Football Club has developed into a thriving business and has a proud name and heritage known throughout the world. In 1994 the Club was taken over by new management who sought to maximise Celtic’s potential as a football club and business but also, importantly, to recognise Celtic’s social dimension, with a return to supporting charitable causes in the line with the founding principles of the Club. In 1995, ‘Celtic Charity Fund’ was formed with the aim of revitalising Celtic’s charitable traditions.
Since then, we have raised and distributed almost £2m to a wide range of charities. Together, we can reach £2.5m and continue to support charities in Scotland, Ireland, and across the World in the name of our glorious family.
Over the past few years Celtic Charity Fund has been involved in more educational, community, and charitable work than at any time in the Club’s history. Such work is a measure of the Club’s commitment to the charitable principles which were the motivation for the Club’s founding father, Brother Walfrid.
Every penny raised through Celtic Charity Fund is given to worthy causes.
