Biffy Clyro back hometown crowd funding campaign

Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro are showing support for their old rehearsal space through a crowdfunding campaign.

In aid of their local YMCA Plus in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, the band have pledged a pair of tickets to their next Scottish show. Their kind donation has been matched by the YMCA who have thrown in a hotel stay and meal for two for one lucky charitable soul.

Those who donate £5 to the JustGiving page, aimed at funding the continued service the YMCA offers, will automatically be in with a chance of winning the prize.

A donation of £1 will put you in the running to win a signed Biffy Clyro poster.

The three-piece rock band formed in Ayrshire and used the YMCA as a practice space in the early days of their career. Band members Ben and James Johnston attended the launch of the YMCA Plus in earlier this year to show their support.

The Kilmarnock YMCA building was recently left out of commision after damage from a fire. Following the repair, it was decided that it would be renamed YMCA Plus and focus primarily on youth work.

Josephine Orr runs the youth club with her husband and other volunteers as well as doing the fundraising, administration and finance. She explained: “It was re-established as a youth centre but because it’s a good sized building with a big backdoor area, we wanted to open it to the community as well.”

An initial target of £1000 has been set for the crowd funding page with all money raised to be reinvested into the organisation to enable the continuation of existing services and the generation of new projects. Josephine added: “Money will go towards providing activities and services for the kids and the drop in for older people, that’s our main services. We’ve got kids from five to eleven years old and twelve to seventeen and it’s really all about giving them structure and opportunities that they wouldn’t normally have.”

The centre hopes to generate enough money to fund their work for the foreseeable future and to allow them to be less dependent on submitting funding applications.

Anyone is able to donate and be in with the chance of winning. Visit the JustGiving page here.