UNITED BACK BEARDS FOR BAIRNS CAMPAIGN

Dundee United are proud to support the ARCHIE Foundation’s annual Beards for Bairns campaign.

ARCHIE Tayside is asking supporters to nominate husbands, partners, brothers, dads, uncles, cousins and friends to grow a beard from Christmas Day until Burns Night on January 25th and the first-team squad were on hand to promote the campaign with a photoshoot at the Tayside Children’s Hospital this week.

Captain Willo Flood said: ‘We’re proud to support The ARCHIE Foundation’s appeal. The new operating theatres will make a difference to them and their families. We’d encourage everyone to get involved in Beards for Bairns this year – by growing a beard or nominating someone else!’

The ARCHIE Foundation Head of Fundraising Emma White said: ‘We’re grateful for the support we’ve received from Dundee United. Having them involved last year helped us sign up lots more people and we hope this year will be even better.

‘It’s not just for the guys either, this year we’re looking to get as many women and children involved too. They might not be able to grow their own beards, but they can enlist someone who can with our new Nominate a Mate campaign.’

‘This year’s flyer even has 12 styles of beard to help inspire you. You can tick the style that you’d like your nominee to grow. If they accept your nomination, we ask that you donate £10 to their fundraising efforts. If they turn you down, you can ask them to donate £10 to ARCHIE as a forfeit.

‘Once our participants have registered for Beards for Bairns, they can ask friends and family to sponsor their fuzzy face and raise as much as they can for ARCHIE Tayside between Christmas and Burns Night. We’ll keep our social media topped up with beard inspiration and motivation to keep you going.’

All the money raised by Beards for Bairns will go to The ARCHIE Foundation’s £2 million appeal to help fund a new twin surgical operating theatre suite at the children’s hospital in Ninewells, Dundee.

Currently, there is only one dedicated children’s operating theatre, and some children have to go to adult theatre to have surgery. The new suite will double the capacity of the children’s hospital, meaning the majority of local children can have their operations in child-friendly, age-appropriate facilities right next to the rest of the children’s hospital facilities.

Local businesses, sports teams and organisations can also take part in Beard Bingo – see how many of the 12 beard styles your group can tick off the chart – maybe if you manage all 12 your boss will double your fundraising amount?

Emma said: ‘Beard growing can get quite competitive- many of our teams enjoy it so much they now take part every year. It is wonderful that they choose to support The ARCHIE Foundation again and again. We’re looking forward to seeing these teams’ efforts once again, as well as signing up lots of new groups.’

To register, text ARCHIE to 70660 (standard network rates apply), visit www.beardsforbairns.org.uk or call 01382 496203

The flyers can be downloaded at www.beardsforbairns.org.uk or you can nominate a mate publicly by liking the Facebook page and sharing or tagging the Beards for Bairns posts @archietayside and don’t forget to share your progress on the page too, or on Instagram @thearchiefoundation and Twitter @ARCHIEtayside with the hashtags #beardsforbairns #nominateamate #beardbingo