scotlandia.com - sarajevo tartan army

Credit where credit is due, Bill Austin and William Wallace Tartan Army deserves special mention for using his Territorial Army membership/contacts with 52 Lowland Regiment and as a season ticket holder at Kilmarnock FC.

Bill organised the TA centres in Glasgow and Edinburgh and used his own October Leave and money to scurry around Scotland including a trip up to Perth to pick up wee Johns 500 strips, coordinate with Kilmarnock Football Club to pick up their 300 strips and work with the TA to package 12 packing cases at the cost of some bottles of whisky. Bill then organised the logistics of getting those 12 boxes from Glasgow out to Sarajevo at no cost to Bubamara or WWTA.

A truly spectacular effort by Bill, his army mates, Anne Clark at Kilmarnock FC and everyone who contributed the strips.

Simply to say - it was a great event and it was a priviledge to be a part of Scotland in Sarajevo tonight.

More than 800 football tops collected by Scottish football fans were given as a present to the children of Bubamara football school.

“Football game cannot exist without football fans. Fans enjoy the game the same like the players in the field. They both share the same joy and passion of the game” said Predrag Pasic, manager of Bubamara, in front of couple of hundreds of young football players.

“Tonight, we are honoured to welcome Scottish football fans, best football fans in the world, who collected football strips for you, football players of Bubamara children’s football school” added Pasic and was greeted both by the kids and their parents.
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It is only one more day before all the collected strips are ‘officially’ handed over to kids of Bubamara Football School. The event will be held at Olympic Hall Zetra on Wednesday, 22 December @ 7:30 PM with participation of couple hundreds of kids and two kilted TA footsoldiers
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Bubamara Appeal has been spectacularly successful!

More than 700 fitba strips and kits have been collected. About 40 brand new pairs of fitba boots as well, from Kilmarnock FC.

Big THANK YOU on behalf of Bubamara kids to everyone who was involved in the appeal in any way, especially to great support from 52nd Lowland Regiment of the Territorial Army.

The Appeal is closed now. The reason is purely logistic re arranging the transport of 320 kilos of strips now (instead of 100 kilos as originally planned). The appeal has been spectacularly successful!

Looking forward to share the photos and report from handover in Sarajevo in mid-December.

Thank you again. Awrabest,

MacMirza

Kilmarnock Football Club collected more than 400 strips as a result of their collection of strips for Bosnian and Iraqi children. Well done and big thanks to everyone who contributed!

Aberdeen Football Club will be joining Bubamara Appeal by donating their strips. Thanks to Brian for the contact.

Once again, big thanks to everyone already involved with the Appeal. Especially to 52nd Lowland Regiment of the Territorial Army for their help with the collection and transport.

Collection every Tuesday 2pm-7pm, at two locations of 52 Lowland Regiment (Hotspur St in Glasgow and East Claremont St in Edinburgh) until 10 December.

Just a wee Monday update.

Big thanks to Kilmarnock Football Club who ‘is asking football fans to donate replica strips they no longer require, to be sent to soldiers serving in Iraq and Bosnia where they will be given out as presents’ (web link here). To kick start the appeal, the club will donate 12 strips from the old crocks game that was played against Ayr Utd at the start of last season.

People don’t have to be Killie fans to donate strips, as they will take any football top from people who would like to help out. The gift will be sent for Christmas so there will be a deadline of Monday 15th November in Kilmarnock for people to hand their tops in to the Administration Centre at Rugby Park.

Also, big thanks go to Fernieside Boys Club, based in the south of Edinburgh, who will be joining the Appeal by donating some strips previously used by Fernieside. Thanks to Mr Stewart Laird, their leader. Thanks to Jimmy for the contact.

Once again, big thanks to everyone already involved with the Appeal. Especially to 52nd Lowland Regiment of the Territorial Army for their help with the collection and transport.

Collection every Tuesday 2pm-7pm, at two locations of 52 Lowland Regiment (Hotspur St in Glasgow and East Claremont St in Edinburgh) until 10 December.

Just a wee note to thank to the folowing people who responded to the Appeal.

Big thanks to Dynamos FC u12’s from Livingston who will be sending 11 outfield tops/shorts and a goalie kit. Thanks to Gary Murray (Tap Shop Tartan Army/Dynamos FC u12’s coach).

Big thanks to Lerwick Thistle FC u14’s from the Shetland Isles (www.lerwickthistlefc.co.uk) who will be sending one full set (15 shirts/shorts + 2 goalkeepers shirts). Thanks to John Ward (Lerwick Thistle FC u14’s Manager).

Big thanks to Ms Mary Clason, Headteacher of St Mary’s RC Primary School Leith, Edinburgh, who agreed to put out an appeal for kits to the parents of all the children. Thanks to Sean for the contact.

Big thanks to three more primary schools from Edinburgh who also agreed to participate in the Appeal: St Crispin’s Primary School, St Mary’s Primary School (in East London St) and Hermitage Park Primary School. Thanks to Davie for the contacts.

Thank you all.

First Tuesday for collection coming in tomorrow 2pm-7pm, at two locations of 52 Lowland Regiment (Hotspur St in Glasgow and East Claremont St in Edinburgh).

This time, I am very glad to let you know all the logistics details for the Appeal.

We would like to thank to the Territorial Army both in Glasgow and Edinburgh who have agreed to act as pick up points, before the stuff is shipped out to Bosnia on 14 December. So, the handover presentation will be arranged in Sarajevo just before Christmas.

Pick up of collected football strips will be done 2pm - 7pm every Tuesday, from now to 10 December (or earlier, subject to weight limit) at the following locations of 52 Lowland Regiment:
- A Coy, East Claremont Street, in Edinburgh (map here)
- C Coy, Hotspur Street, Maryhill, in Glasgow (map here)

Thanks to everyone who contacted us with suggestions and proposals. We are hoping to publish regular updates on the progress of the Appeal. Moreover, all the people involved will be mentioned on the website, at least once the Appeal is over if not before. Thank you all.

Once again, pick up will be done 2pm - 7pm every Tuesday at two locations of 52 Lowland Regiment (East Claremont Street in Edinburgh, and Hotspur Street, Maryhill in Glasgow).

Well, it is just two days since the ‘Bubamara’ Appeal for football kits went public and here is quite a good update:

First of all, BIG thanks to Queens Park Football Club who was the first one to respond to the Appeal and donated tracksuits and wet weather jackets! Thanks to Lorraine from WWTA who helped with contacts at Queens Park FC, and who is following with contacts at the Scottish FA.

We are well advanced now with the collection points both for Glasgow and Edinburgh. Details will be published soon and most probably the collection will be done once per week until the closure date.

Closure date is now identified as 10 December, as we hope to have the shipment done on 14 December. In addition to that, we might have weight limit, so the closure might occur earlier. Details will follow in the next update.

Thanks to Ally from St Andrews who will be happy to be a contact for anyone from St Andrews and Dundee area and to deliver the strips to the collection point in Edinburgh.

Thanks to Davie from Edinburgh who works on involving three primary schools in Edinburgh. Thanks also to Sean from Edinburgh who works on involving another primary school in Edinburgh.

Thanks to David from Edinburgh area for suggestions on contacts for East Fife FC. Thanks to Graham from California (who served in the Army in Bosnia) for his suggestions to contact Major League Soccer, but unfortunately we would be faced with transport problems in that case.

Sorry if I missed anyone this time. Thank you all.

New update will follow in next 2-3 days. Best wishes from Sarajevo.

MacMirza

Dear Tartan Army friends (known and unknown),

This is an appeal for football kits (and other football gear) for a children’s football school in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Please read and think if you can help in any way. Thank you.

‘Bubamara’ background info
The football school ‘Bubamara’ (Ladybug) was formed in Sarajevo in 1993, during the war. It was Predrag Pasic, ex-player of FC Sarajevo and VfB Stuttgart (1985-87) and member of Yugoslav Team for WC 1982. Pasic stayed in Sarajevo during the war and decided to start a wee football school to help Sarajevo kids to forget about the war and its consequences.

‘Bubamara’ is nowdays proud to gather about 600 kids, not just in Sarajevo but in 5 more cities in Bosnia. Kids are 5-18 years old, and about 300 of them are U-11. They organize not just football training sessions and tournaments, but also lectures of English language, computers and swimming summer camps.

In addition to that, the school has been working with kids with special needs, trying to increase awareness of people with mental handicaps. Pasic has been President of Special Olympics Committee and has received an award from UEFA for his contibution to promotion of sports.

The idea for ‘Bubamara’ Appeal
The idea for the Appeal came about one month ago when I met Bill (William Wallace TA) here in Sarajevo. He mentioned that WWTA has done something similar for kids in Sierra Leone and it might be possible to do something for kids in Bosnia, baring in mind post-war difficulties. I contacted ‘Bubamara’ then and arranged a meeting. Pasic is a very simple and modest guy and welcomed the idea, especially since the school (registered as an NGO) does not have support from governmental institutions.

A letter was sent to Mr David Taylor to SFA, asking for a possibility of donating some old football strips and other old stuff which can be of good use for the kids from ‘Bubamara’. WWTA will be making contacts with Queens Park FC as there is a possibility for their support.

We have already identified a way of how to transport the donation and hope we might be able to have it in Sarajevo around the Christmas/New Year time.

What can YOU do to help the ‘Bubamara’ Appeal?
* The most simple way - if you have any football kits (strips, shorts, training wear, etc) that your kids do not need any more, think about donating them. The collection point will be organized through WWTA in Glasgow and I will post the details shortly.

* If you have a contact at your local football club or you are aware of a such possibility, please do contact them and let me know. Or please let me know who to contact and I will email them directly.

* Important - for now, we have only one collection point in Glasgow (WWTA) so I would be thankful to any individuals or TA clubs/groups which would organize a collection point in other cities in Scotland (even if it is only a couple of hours, one day during November). Please contact me if you can do this.

* Currently, we didn’t think about any money contribution but if some people think this might be easier for them, we can think about that. In-kind donations are preferred option.

In the incoming days (and months), I will be posting progress updates regarding the ‘Bubamara’ Appeal both here and on Tartan Army Message Board

If you need to email me, please use macmirza@scotlandia.com

Greetings from the city which is building a new and a better future! Thank you!

Alba Gu Brath