Football club takes on responsibility for life-saving defibrillators in Castletown
Castletown’s community-minded football club now has responsibility for four potentially life-saving defibrillators in the village.
The club has taken over the running costs of three of the devices from the local community council. They are located at the school, at the church and in a sheltered housing area.
These are in addition to the defibrillator attached to the football club pavilion, where a £45,000 refurbishment was completed in 2023.
Club chairman Kevin Mackay explained that the cost of calibration is around £250 for each defibrillator, adding up to £1000 a year.
The club has received donations from local businesses and organisations to ensure the defibrillators are always ready for use.
Those who made contributions were invited to Back Park for hospitality and a photo opportunity before Saturday’s Stannergill Cup final.
Donations came from Castletown Butchers, the Highland Haddy, Dounreay Employees Charity Fund and Unite the Union, as well as committee member Lachie Sutherland.
Castletown’s senior team play in Division One of the Caithness Amateur Football Association league. Caithness Ladies also play their home games at Back Park, and junior football sessions are held there too.
Club chairman Kevin Mackay said: “The community council had started it off but they couldn’t afford the £750 for getting them calibrated. So we decided that we, as a football club, would take them on for the village.
“Obviously this final is one of our fundraisers. We’re hoping to do a joint event with the hall committee, a weekend of fun, later in the year, and that will raise money for us too.
“We do events like raffles, plus we do a bingo to try and raise money. But we’ve been so lucky with folk giving that it has made it easy for us.
“We feel that with the pavilion being done up now it’s a hub for the community. That is important for us.”
The club also has a portable defibrillator that can be taken to away games.
The defibrillator at the pavilion had been required in an emergency just a few days earlier.
The Stannergill Cup was introduced this season to replace the Colin Macleod Memorial Cup, which was discontinued after the 2024 final.
The Colin Macleod Memorial Cup final was played at Back Park each year and the new competition will keep up that tradition.