SAYFC HAS announced a Covid Development Fund to provide clubs across Scotland with up to £1500 in financial support, to assist with the recovery of clubs, following the impact of Covid-19.

All clubs affiliated to SAYFC will be eligible to apply – with the application process opening in April – but club committees must have a minimum of two club representatives in attendance at two new support initiatives introduced by SAYFC: Communications Training and Leader Development Training.

Following on from members' concerns over having to pay annual affiliation fees, a reduced rate will now be charged to clubs – subsidised by the SAYFC International Trust and Ingliston Trust.

SAYFC will charge 75% of the rate charged in 2020, dropping from £56 to £42 per head, with the Trusts supporting the 25% difference.

Despite this financial support, SAYFC’s income from affiliation fees will fall considerably due to the drop in YF activities caused by Covid-19. Recruitment in 2020 dropped from an average of 23% in previous years to only 5%, with members affiliated in 2020 dropping from 3,400 to 2,500.

SAYFC income from affiliation fees will see a drop from £175k in 2019 to £130k in 2021, coupled with the loss of income from events and sponsorship, the Association faces challenges in 2021.

At the forthcoming AGM on April 17, the Association will report a loss of around £9,000 for the year ended December 31, 2020.

SAYFC chief executive Penny Montgomerie, praised the work of office bearers for the resilience they have shown over the past 12 months: “A year in the chair full of extremely difficult decisions to ensure this loss was kept to a minimum, I want to praise the hard work of national chairman, Gemma Bruce and her fellow trustees. Facing the past 12 months with nothing but courage - they never fail to always look and plan forward! We must all thank them for their timely discussions and solutions on how to provide some financial stability to both the association and its backbone; the clubs!”