We were very fortunate to receive a donation of fantastic training kit from Manchester United recently from their training complex at Carrington.  Some of the kit has now found its way to a massive refugee camp in Northern Uganda which houses 100,000 displaced people who have fled South Sudan.

The kit was taken out for us by the Watford based charity, Eagles Wings and it was delivered by their founder, Bruce Oliver.  He explained that many of the people have no possessions and there is nothing to do for the thousands of young people.  The kits are now being used as part of a football project where teams wear it in inter zone matches and play tournaments.

As we say, it really is more than just a shirt as it brings hope where little exists.  Thanks to the kit managers at Carrington who kindly sorted and helped get it to us.

We had a great time at the WFC Open Day and really appreciate the support from the club.  We received a lot of shirts on the day, mainly Hornets ones, as well as some great training kit from the club.  We also met a lot of fans and explained how we work and who we are.  A lot already knew of us which is encouraging and the retweets by the club certainly helped with this. 

Many thanks to all of the fans who donated shirts and to Alex Ashby who is one of the main organisers.  Good luck for the new season, COYH.

As ever, we have a busy diary of events which we would love to include you all in.  We never say no to help, so if you can get involved please let me know.

  • Watford FC Open Day                                                               6 August
  • Charlie Fidler Tournament, Hemel Hempstead                 6 September
  • Non League Day kit collection at Chesham Utd                 6 September
  • FC United of Manchester collection, Stalybridge                20 September
  • Boxing up, Hatfield                                                                    27 September

 

We are conscious of how much all of you do behind the scenes and without this we would definitely struggle.  Thanks for your support and may your team make you proud for the new season!!

For the last 4 years we have had a tenuous link with another great charity who arrange for a plane load of children from Belarus, who still are affected by the Chernobyl radiation fall out, to spend a month in the UK with host families.

Through our link with Affinity Water we arrange for them to spend a day at our Environment and Education Centre, which they absolutely love. 

We also give them a goody bag which includes some new kit and other presents.  The children actually boost their immunity in the time they are in the UK to see them through the next 18 months, which is quite amazing. 

If you know of anyone who might be able to arrange a special visit for them please let me know at derrick.williams@affinitywater.co.uk

We visited the brilliant Footy Camp project on 18 July to see the final day of the event, which really is a great day.  I have been 5 times now and each time I come away totally inspired by the great work Peter (Thompson) and his team do, but I do think this years camp was the best ever. 

The atmosphere was great and the boys were buzzing.  We all ran the “gauntlet” and survived and World Cup final went to penalties which Holland won (so I did get to see Holland wing the WC after all). We also visited the drop in centre where all of the great work takes place throughout the year  and Peter showed us a model of new centre which will be built, from later on this year.

It was great that Jason Fidler and the team from Charlie’s Gift were able to come along as well, especially as their donation funded the camp this year.  We had a great time and I think everyone came away feeling it was money well spent and we know we have made the right decision to keep supporting Peter in his amazing work.

Probably one of the most enjoyable aspects of KitAid is being able to help so many people across the world.  As you will know, we operate a very cost effective model and we have always worked on the basis that if we do build up a surplus of funds, we will mange our finances responsibly and make grants for what we consider to be surplus to needs, rather than sitting on money in the bank.

As a result of the 15th Anniversary Dinner and some other donations we were able to release £4k for small grants to charities we know and work with.  We have made the following grants to

  • Craft Aid – £1,000                     Working with orphanages and sports projects in Uganda
  • Stegota FC – £1,000                To be used on a special project for the community to supply shirt printing equipment
  • Maleala Lesotho – £750          To buy kit, equipment and boots for 35 players from age of 10 – 16 years
  • Mbale Uganda – £1,000          To buy kit, equipment, goal posts, netballs for 200 pupils at Budwale Secondary School