The news released today by Celtic FC Foundation that the Football For Good Fund has reached the landmark figure of £1.5million over the past 18 months of Covid, with the Foundation itself pledging to add another quarter-of-a-million pounds to that, is more than welcome news for the ever-rising numbers in this time of increasing need.

The number of people helped by the funds raised by Celtic supporters around the globe is quite astronomical, but this sad indictment on today’s society and the need for help has only been exacerbated by the global pandemic - and Celtic FC Foundation Chief Executive, Tony Hamilton, has stated that the need is only going to get worse before it gets better.

He said: “I think for a lot of people, life was very, very normal before Covid, and then it’s taken a dramatic dip for a lot of people who would have led reasonably normal lives.

“It’s been going on for 18 months, and obviously people have been asking questions about if there is an end in sight, and it’s going to get worse.

‘There’s a big, big cut to benefit coming, there’s an increase in domestic fuel coming which is going to impact on families as well.’

“So as much as this is doom and gloom, it’s certainly going to get worse for a lot of families before it gets better.”

The double-edged sword is the fulfilment in aiding literally thousands of individual and collective cases, while that is combatted by the realisation that so many people need help, and that number is rising daily.

The Foundation CEO added: “We’re talking about tens of thousands of people. There are about 13,000 individuals, we’ve got about 82 partners – a lot in Glasgow, some in London, some internationally, some in Edinburgh, some in Ireland – there are just under 4,000 children.

“25,000 families have been impacted over the past 18 months, and just under 16,000 pensioners as well, and a lot of people who live within the homeless community, particularly in the West of Scotland.

“So, it’s big, big numbers for us.”

Celtic FC Foundation say thank-you 1.5million times to incredible support