I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends, and wishing you all a happy, healthy and fulfilling 2023.

2023 is of course a big year for KitAd as we celebrate our 25th Anniversary and look forward to reaching 1 Million items of donated kit.

Here are the end of year totals for 2022

Total items sent in 2022  –                                  114,145

Total items donated since 1998  –                      933,897

Remaining number until we reach 1 Million  –  66,103

Hatfield Boxing up – 14 January

Thanks to all of those who replied to say they could or couldn’t attend this session.  As we were short of helpers I am extremely grateful to Ed Venner who asked his many contacts at Harpenden Colts if they could volunteer, and as a result, we now have enough people and also eight new helpers.  We look forward to the first session of 2023 and to welcoming Ed and his team to the Hatfield group.

Thank You certificates 2023

All of the photos and updated wording has been sent off to our designer Carole.  As she is currently in New Zealand visiting her family this may slow things down a bit, but she has very kindly offered to log on, carry out the design changes and place the order with the printer from NZ. In the meantime, if you could carry on using the 2022 certificates, I will post off the new ones, along with a jpeg image, as soon as they are available.

25th Anniversary polo shirts and badges

We have a limited number of polo shirts in sizes S,M,L and XL available on a first come basis and lovely shiny silver badges of the new logo. If you are interested in either please let me know.

2023 KitAid Calendar

I am very sorry to say we have been let down badly by ASK Calendars of Bury St Edmunds.  They clearly have production problems and are not answering any chase up emails, voice messages or calls.  I have reported the issue to Suffolk Trading Standards and I need to follow up with a further letter next week. This is incredibly annoying as we used the same company a couple of years ago and the service was good.

If you have ordered and paid for a calendar could you please let me know, so I can report this to the Trading Standards office.

Ukraine Support

During 2022 we were able to donate a number of cold weather kit items to different charities who were making onward deliveries to either Poland or Ukraine. Only a couple of weeks ago I met Katya, a Ukrainian refugee staying in Hemel Hempstead with our former Trustee, Julia. Katya arranged for a car load of mainly brand new thick winter coats to be delivered to Dnipro and yesterday the pictures came through of different people receiving and wearing the coats. We hope to keep donating items for as long as they are needed.

England National Schools Netball Championship

This prestigious tournament will take place on 28 January at Stanborough School in Welwyn Garden City.  All competing schools have been asked to bring unwanted kits along on the day and we will then collect them to send on to Malawi, where FOMO will distribute them to teams in the recently created KitAid/FOMO Netball league in the Mulanje District.

We may need some help collecting the kit on the 28th, so please let me know if you are able to help.

Hopes for 2023

As it is New Years Eve and a good time to look ahead I thought I would capture some of my hopes for KitAid in 2023.  Perhaps this time next year I can look back to see if we have achieved them!

• To reach 1 Million items of donated kit in time for our 25th Anniversary in July.
• To celebrate our 25th Anniversary with a party with all of our supporters and partner charities.
• For KitAid to win an award and recognition for everyone’s hard work over many years.
• To agree a sustainable operating model to allow KitAid to continue delivering beyond the 25th Anniversary.

Positive Message

Following a recent kit donation I received the following message from the charity Gravity Solutions, which I think captures the spirit of KitAid and why we all give our time

“You are not only giving kits, you are giving hope, making a difference and motivating the next generation. We love and cherish what you do”

Anthony Iwere

Gravity Solutions Charity

I think this is a lovely way to end this news update and to thank you all for your wonderful support in 2022.  Here’s to an equally successful 2023.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Derrick