“We essentially just want to make sure our kids turn into good men.”
A founding member of a West Belfast football club has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro as part of a fundraising drive to keep the club going.
St Luke’s Football Club in the Twinbrook area was formed 51 years ago, and has six teams ranging from teenagers to the men’s teams. Kevin Rafferty, 72, was there when it all started, and is currently the club’s chairman.
On August 1, he set off with his granddaughter on the adventure of a lifetime, hiking the 5,850 metres to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. After ten gruelling days on the mountain, they reached the top, with Kevin raising almost £2,000 so far for the club he loves.
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Speaking to Belfast Live, Kevin told us about the mission behind St Luke’s, his involvement with the club over the past 51 years, and why fundraising is so necessary.
He said: “I’m a founding member of the club, which was myself and a couple of other guys who are still kicking about. We started it 51 years ago, in 1974. We draw from Twinbrook and Poleglass, and are very much a community-based club.
“We get our kids in at 14, 15, or 16, and see them through those ages to keep them out of harm’s way, keep them off the streets and away from bad influences we don’t want them to be picking up on. We essentially just want to make sure our kids turn into good men.
“I’m biased, but I think we’re good at it. We have adults in the club now, young men in their 20s and 30s with girlfriends and all the rest, and we think they’re good people.
“We think we have done a little bit to get them to be good men and treat people with respect, treat women with respect, their community and area too. We’re good at giving them a sense of identity, belonging, and pride in the jersey, not just on the pitch.”
As for the momentous hike up Kilimanjaro, it was the Belfast man’s second go at it, completing the journey 17 years ago. This time, however, he got to return with his granddaughter.
Kevin said: “We had a fantastic time. My family and I would be close, but I would be tight with her. We had a smashing time.
“We were away for 14 days, you’re ten days on the mountain – eight days to get up. We hiked the Lemosho Route, which is the longest of the different routes. It’s quite arduous, you’re walking 28 miles across the lower slopes of the mountain, you’re going through four geographical zones.
“The final hike starts at midnight and takes six hours, with the last three hours through snow. You get to the summit at dawn just as the sun’s coming up, and it’s just spectacular.
“I’ll never do it again – I’m 72 now. We had a brilliant time, and the club benefits from it too which is a bonus.”
Kevin said their fundraising efforts will help the club with vital items such as football boots, new kits, new footballs, and new nets, as well as costs needed to rent pitches for matches. St Luke’s FC is run on a voluntary basis, meaning all expenses come from fundraising.
He said: “We need more coaches, more volunteers, and more money. We’re no different from other voluntary clubs, there’s demand and you get pulled and stretched in every direction. It costs a fortune to run a football club, we rely on a lot of local businesses who have been immensely generous to us over the years.
“I set a target of £3,000 for Kilimanjaro which I thought was ambitious – we’re up to around £2,000 now. These aren’t big figures, but they are for us.
“For a set of jerseys, you’re talking £800, and we have six teams. The money raised will go on new rigs, new balls, we need new netting for the goalposts. Even just to play a match, the ground is £90, referee is £80, the washing of the rig was £10 – you’re talking that much for every match, and we have five matches on a Saturday.”
Looking back on his time so far with St Luke’s, Kevin said what he does now is all about giving back. When asked what he loves about the club, he said: “Way back 50 years ago as a player, nobody else would have me – that’s probably the main thing!
“But the years just go on. I played in the first team until I was about 31, then played in the second team until 37 or 38, and at this stage we had a third team for younger ones and I managed it.
“It’s the principle of giving back, you’ve had so many good years of playing so you go into management and the committee trying to raise a few pounds. One year goes past, then another, and now 50 years have passed and I’m an old man.”
You can donate to Kevin Rafferty’s fundraiser for St Luke’s FC by clicking here.
Video by Belfast Live videographer Harry Bateman.
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