KitAid Monthly Update March 2023

I would like to welcome Shelagh from Sheffield and George from Basingstoke who have recently joined the team as Regional Volunteers for their areas.  Welcome to Team KitAid.

March has been another busy month and here are the key highlights.

 

Totals

12,635 items sent out in March

37,135 items sent out in 2023

971,032 items sent out since 1998

28,968 items to go until we reach 1,000,000 items donated!! I predict we will reach the magic milestone at some point in June.

 

25th Anniversary Celebration

Friday 8th September, Watford FC -Ticket price £30

As expected for the hottest tickets in town, within just a couple of weeks of going on sale, we have almost reached our maximum sales figure of 100 tickets.  There are still some available so please reply quickly if you wish to attend. Thanks to everyone who has already paid and next month we will send out further details and gather dietary requirements etc.

The evening is taking shape with a special band booked and some entertaining speakers, a nostalgic look back at the previous 25 year highlights and a lovely KitAid evening for all.

Auction prizes

We have started to gather some great auction items but need help in finding some more. Especially event/experience type prizes such as match day tickets or attendance at a special event. If you know of anyone who can help with this please contact them and share our wonderful 25 year successes.

 

25 for 25 Challenge

Many congratulations to Barrie N, our Regional Volunteer for Chelmsford, who has reached his fundraising target of £250 already. Barrie set himself a challenge of visiting 25 football grounds across Essex and although he has not yet finished, he has made some great contacts from Clubs he has met. He told the Secretary of Runwell Sports FC about his challenge and they very generously donated £200 and also agreed to put a KitAid banner on display.

Well done Barrie and good luck to Ben W who will be starting his swimming challenge in April. If you haven’t yet signed up for a challenge and would like details please let me know.

 

Liverpool FC Foundation

We would like to offer our thanks to the LFC Foundation team for their very generous support last Saturday at their Legends fundraising game.

We have a long standing relationship with the Foundation and they have donated a lot of kit over many years. In recognition of our 25th Anniversary year they very kindly presented a special “KitAid 25” shirt pitchside at half time. It was somewhat overwhelming walking out of the tunnel, under the famous LFC logo, in front of 50,000 supporters, but an incredible experience.

Thanks to Trustee Janet N, for arranging everything with the team at LFC Foundation.

 

KitAid Supporters Cup

You may remember that we were unable to present the Cup last November as the match between Leverstock Green and Aylesbury Vale Dynamoes ended in a 2-2 draw following a 93rd minute equaliser!  Our friends at LG went on to win the away leg 4-2, but we were unable to attend on the night.

The plan is to present the Cup at their home game tomorrow (1st April), but I have a feeling this may be scuppered by the constant rain today and over the last few days. We have already had to get the engraving changed from 2022 to 2023 so fingers crossed they get their hands on the Cup this week, month, year!!

 

Boots

Football boots are highly sought after at all of the projects we support and as much as possible, we share those that we receive to the different projects.  We have recently started to work more closely with the charity, Charity Boots, from North London, and they were offered a substantial donation of 2,000 pairs of brand new boots.  We have taken delivery and are helping them with temporary storage and they have donated 1,000 pairs to KitAid.

We have already passed on half of the total to partners such as FOMO Malawi and the rest will go quickly. This is a great example of small charities working together and we have always supported sharing of opportunities, contacts and knowledge as much as possible.

 

Social Media

I am sure you are aware that we post almost every day on Twitter, Instagram and FB and we have nearly 4,000 followers on Twitter.  However, with the imminent changes by Mr M, Twitter will become much less user friendly and not as easy to see our posts. We are certainly not going to pay for a blue tick!!

Can I suggest that you start to follow KitAidCharity on Instagram so you do not miss out on the wonderful photos and film clips we receive from the projects we support.

 

Well I think these are the main highlights for March and please, if you do wish to attend the 25th Anniversary Celebration on 8th September, let me know by return.

Many thanks for your help and support.

Derrick

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KitAid Monthly Update – February 2023

February was another really busy month with 13,790 items of kit leaving the containers. This increases our totals to

24,500 items sent out in 2023

958,397 items sent since 1998

41,603 items still to go before we reach 1,000,000 items!

My prediction is we will reach the magic million sometime in July.

 

25th Anniversary Celebration

Really pleased to let everyone know the venue is now booked, the deposit paid and sponsors have been found.

  • Venue  –  The View, Vicarage Road Stadium, Watford FC
  • Sponsors  – Salford Van Hire/Family FC
  • Date  –  Friday 8 September, 2023
  • Ticket Price  – £30
  • Included  –  Finger Buffet plus refreshments, Speeches, Music, Auction, Raffle and 25 years of celebration!!!

A proper invitation email will be sent out to everyone shortly, once the poster is designed, but please keep this date free in your diary. We are limited to 100 seats, although less once sponsor and special guest tickets are included, so please let us know quickly once you receive the invitation email.

 

“25for25 Challenge”

So far we have had 5 people express their interest in taking part in a challenge.  Many thanks to Matt T, Alka M, Ben W, Peter D, and Delwyth P.

To recap, the Challenge is of your choice, it doesn’t have to be physical, it just needs to include 25 of something. So abstaining from alcohol/chocolate/pizza/online shopping for 25 days is perfectly acceptable. Or you could spread it out and say attend 25 matches or grounds between March and December. Or you could donate 25 different club shirts or if you don’t fancy a challenge, simply donate £25!!

We have created a special Just Giving page which you can link your individual event to. Matt T has produced an easy to follow guide, which we can send once you have chosen your challenge.

From a KitAid financial perspective, this is becoming quite important as this month we have dropped to an available balance of £7,000. We are spending more on storage and courier collections and to an extent have become victims of our own success. We do not receive any grants or regular funding, and although we have enough currently to see us through this year, without any additional funding, it will all go.

Please support this Challenge if you are able to or share it with your friends.

 

Do Not Scratch Your Eyes !

If you are a Watford fan you will already be aware of a podcast with the above name, which is taken from the live commentary when Troy Deeney scored an iconic goal in a Play Off Semi Final.

The podcast is very popular and I gave an interview a few months ago. They have recently launched a Patreon site and have collaborated with the Club to produce merchandise T-shirts. Half of the profit will be donated to KitAid and the other half to the Peace Hospice, as Graham Taylor was Patron of both charities. This is really generous and it is also giving KitAid more exposure.

 

Netball kit collection

We are delighted to have collected over 20 boxes of fantastic netball kits, trainers and balls for the girls in Malawi.  They have been playing in t-shirts or football kits for a long time and it is great that they will be able to play in proper kits.

Very many thanks to Sally Whittle from England Netball and to all of the teams in the Hertfordshire League who generously donated so much kit over three separate weekends. Thanks also to Mark S who helped me at the events.

 

Grassroots Magazine – Essex

Following a large kit donation from Wilvale Rangers, a grassroots club in Essex, Barrie N the Regional Volunteer for Chelmsford, wrote a press release for the club. They sent it on to the Grassroots Magazine who have now offered a regular KitAid advert and online support.

It might be worth looking online to see if any other County Grassroots publications exist in your area if you are a Regional Coordinator.

 

Boxing Up – Hatfield, 18th March

Thanks to all of those who replied to the “Please Reply” email sent out a few weeks ago.  If you are still to reply and wish to attend the boxing up session, could you let me know please. Mary and Keith from FOMO Malawi will also be attending which will be lovely and a great opportunity to find out more about the work we have supported for many years.

 

Nick Perchard

We would like to offer our thanks to Nick who has been a Trustee for 9 years and a supporter of KitAid from his time as CEO of Hertfordshire FA. Nick has an incredibly busy job at the Premier League which takes him to the Community Trusts of every Club. Nick has decided to step down as a Trustee mainly due to work commitments and we are very grateful for his input and advice over recent years.

 

Well I think these are the main events for a busy month other than to thank you all for your continued support.

Please look out for the 25th Anniversary Celebration invitation and send in your ticket request straight away.

Many thanks

Derrick

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