KitAid Monthly Update – August 2022

August was a really busy month at the containers, and we are now back to two of them again, which saves us £162 per month.  Here are the latest despatch figues.

11,690 items of kit donated in August

68.830 items of kit donated in 2022

889,782 items of kit donated since 1998

We are getting close to the final 100k and still on track to reach 1 Million donated items in 2023.

Congratulations

to Trustee Thomas (Enright) and his partner Debbie, who tied the knot in Mbale, Uganda.  Thimas has a long standing relationship with both Debbie and Uganda so it was fitting they celebrated their wedding there. On their honeymoon they handed out kit and also visited the Bulindi Chimpanzee project which we support with kit and sponsorship of their farmers football tournament. In lieu of a wedding present the other trustees donated £100 for  them to use towards a project and they chose to support the Mbale Youth Football project with the funds.

Many congratulations to you both and very best wishes for a long and happy future together.

25th Anniversary

Many of you will have received a special email I sent out earlier this week outlining some ideas and asking for your feedback for our big Anniversary year in 2023.

Thanks to those of you who have responded, and if you haven’t yet managed to do so, it would be great if you can. There have been some interesting responses and some themes are developing. I am really keen that everyone can take part in different events throughout the year and we use this as an opportunity to let more people know about KitAid and our successes.

Do Not Scratch Your Eyes podcast

I was interviewed by the guys from the DNSYE podcast and they ended up dedicating a whole episode to KitAid, which was a pleasant surprise. It is still available to download either directly or from Apple etc.

It has generated some interest and new support for KitAid as well as some lovely feedback.

Afi – Golf 

If you remember from the last monthly update we were asked to help enter junior golfer, Afi, from Ghana into some tournaments across Hertfordshire, after she missed out on the opportunity to play in the World Junior Championship in Scotland.

Luck clearly does not follow Afi, as after entering her into four competitions, at some prestigious golf clubs, she was unable to travel to England due to accommodation issues and Covid.

This is such a shame as she has missed out once again, but hopefully something can be arranged for next year. A big thank you to Ross from Five Star Trophies and to Jeremy for their help and advice.

FOMO/KitAid Bonanza

We sponsored the big Bonanza football and netball week and also the medals which were given to all of the winners.

It was great that Regional Co-ordinator, Ben (Wildman) from Kent was able to attend in person as the guest of honour, as he was working in Malawi for his charity in early August.

Ben presented prizes and took some great photos which were posted online at the time. I met Ben this morning when he dropped off some kit and he was very impressed with the whole event. He was also given a tour of the FOMO school, new gym and saw at first hand the wonderful work carried out by FOMO.

Giving and Receiving

We tend to focus more on kits being received but I received an email from one of the charities we give to, which made me think.

Ernest is a soldier in the British army, in the Household Cavalry, and he sends kit to Ghana where his parents are from. He sent an email after collecting the recent donation of kit to say that KitAid was a lifeline to his work, as previously he had visited car boot sales and charity shops, to buy shirts. Along with the shipping costs he was finding this harder to do and couldn’t believe how happy he was to find KitAid.

Ben also visited a sports shop in Blantyre, Malawi, and was shocked to find that a pair of shin pads would cost the equivalent of a week’s wages for the people he was coaching.

“It’s more than just  a shirt………”

Just Giving

We recently received a very generous donation of £1,000 plus Gift Aid in memory of a person who sadly died playing football in Manchester. A tournament in his memory was arranged by his friends. As Gift Aid does not supply us with any details of individual donors we have no way of thanking the family and friends of Frazer Gowans. We did post a thank you online and this newsletter also appears on our website. Hopefully they will get to see it along with our appreciation.

Boxing Up

It seems an age since we were all together and properly sorting kit, but I am hoping to go back to boxing up sessions in Hatfield and Liverpool next month.  The storeroom at Hatfield is about one third full and St Luke’s has more, so once I am back from holiday I will look at some dates and send out the invites.

As ever, many thanks to everyone for your support and if you are still to reply to the 25th Anniversary questions, please do.

Have a good month ahead

Derrick