In an innovative partnership with the Highland Hospice charity shop in the High Street, the Can Cans plan to put themselves firmly in the shop window.
"We plan to sell club merchandise from the Highland Hospice shop," said chairman Dr James Anderson. "People looking for club memorabilia sometimes don't know where to look, and we feel this is an ideal opportunity to raise the profile of the club. It is also an opportunity for the Mechanics to make a donation to a local charity at the same time."
With a new strip likely to be available for the new season soon, the Highland Hospice Shop has just taken stock of what is left of this season's strip, with children's long sleeved tops available at £20 and adults short sleeved tops for sale at £26.
However, once the new kit arrives for the new season, the shop is hoping to be able to sell a wider range of goods, from scarves and woolly bonnets to jerseys and shorts and other bits and pieces, which will all help give the Can Cans High Street exposure.
Dr Anderson said: "I believe there will be mutual benefit and we have already agreed that a percentage of the profit will go to the Hospice Shop. People will go into the shop looking for Mechanics' merchandise and may also support the Hospice, and the reverse will also be true".
Manager, Susan Cooper, said they were delighted to help out and said she agreed that the arrangement would be mutually beneficial.
"We are hoping that people will come into the shop to look for football items who wouldn't normally come in," she added. "Hopefully, they will see the range of goods we have on offer, and might even be tempted to buy something from us, which would be absolutely great."
She said that the shop, which is entirely staffed by volunteers, is always looking for new people to help and for new items to sell, with items of clothing always proving popular and always welcomed, with all profits going to the charity.
Meantime, Dr Anderson said that they hoped having a High Street outlet would boost the Forres Mechanics' appeal and boost their popularity in the community even more than normal.
"This is a great time for the club to put itself in the shop window," he said. "It is the 125th anniversary of its founding, and with this being Homecoming Year, we hope Forres exiles coming back for the likes of Scottish Week will take the opportunity to take some Can Cans' souvenirs back with them."
The Hospice shop is open from 10am to 4pm from Mondays to Saturdays.
Merchandise