STILL Game fan Michael Raeburn is now the proud owner of a clapperboard from the series after putting in the highest bid in an auction in aid of the cash-strapped Hollies Community Hub in Musselburgh.

He offered £350 for the piece of comedy history, which was donated by actor James Martin, a local resident and staunch supporter of the Hollies, who played the character Eric in the hit TV series.

Michael, from Edinburgh, was delighted to visit the High Street facility recently to meet Mr Martin in person.

The Hollies said on social media: “Michael anonymously bid £350.

“He is a massive fan of the programme and said it was ‘one of the best things to come out of Scotland for a long time’ and ‘we always play it in the background when cooking’.”

Hollies supporter John McCulloch, from Musselburgh, has also given the hub a £600 donation.

He and his wife have been invited to lunch at the Hollies as a thank you for their generosity.

With both the auction and Mr McCulloch’s contribution, £950 has been raised for the hub, which manager Liz Shannon described as “outstanding.”

Ongoing fundraising for the hub could involve a weekly hour of stories and jokes with ‘Eric’ at the Hollies for a donation. This could be booked by telephone and take place between 10am and 11am.

A GoFundMe appeal, which is hoping to raise £1,000, currently stands at more than £750.

One supporter commented: “The Hollies provides such a great service to people in the local community.

“It would be such a loss if they were unable to continue to do so.”

The Courier previously reported that the Hollies, which has provided services for elderly people in Musselburgh for 60 years, was at risk of imminent closure due to a funding crisis.

Ms Shannon feared that the much-loved facility could shut its doors permanently at the end of this month unless it was thrown a lifeline.

She said: “We are facing a funding crisis; despite our best efforts and applying to funders so far this year, we have been unsuccessful.”

A petition has been launched urging local people to get behind the campaign to save the Hollies Community Hub SCIO, which was formerly know as Hollies Day Centre SCIO.

More than 600 people have signed the online petition and Ms Shannon said that she expected to have well over 1,000 signatures when paper copies of the petition were added to the total.

The petition will be presented to East Lothian Council and Musselburgh MSP Colin Beattie to demonstrate what the Hollies means to the community and how they feel about the facility and its services.

The online petition can be viewed at change.org/p/save-the-hollies-community-hub-in-musselburgh and it is available at the Hollies.

One supporter said: “Why would anyone want to lose a safe community place for pensioners?”