The AU 500 fund organisers have rounded off 2021 by donating another £10,000 to Ayr United.

The latest donation takes the group to the landmark total of donating £150,000 to the club since 2016.

Even throughout the pandemic, one-off and regular donations remained so that the club could use the money towards transfer fees and wages, allowing other money to be freed up for other departments.

Fund Treasurer, Robert Ritchie said he was delighted to reach the £150k mark.

He said: “It’s great to see that out regular donations and one-off donations have kept up the way that they have.

“At the start of the pandemic we were a bit unsure about how things would go, but people still donated where they could, even if that meant lowering their donations for a period.

“Since the start of 2021, we’ve donated £39,800, which shows how great the support has been.”

Coronavirus restrictions in place at the end of last year and now mean the group have been unable to celebrate reaching the marks of donating

£100k and £150k, but Robert is determined that members will get the celebratory night they deserve when restrictions allow.

He added: “We’re in talks with the club about

potentially using the new hub for a celebratory night for all the members who have contributed through the years.

“We haven’t been able to really celebrate what we have done, so that’s something we definitely aim to put right in 2022.

“For the start of the year, we’re also looking to donate what we can towards player transfers.

“It looks to be an exciting time with the new managing director and head of recruitment coming in and once there is a clearer picture of what is happening with the managerial position I think people will be more likely to donate. It’s just been about keeping our name out there and people realising what we’re working towards.

“I think that’s where the regular contributions have been so vital because then we know we have a constant income to the fund, but we’re so grateful for all the support we’ve had.”

You can join the fund at www.au500fund.com or emailing info@au500fund.com.