KitAid Monthly Update – April 2023

April was another busy month with kit donations to 10 different countries across Africa,  Here are the new totals,

 

Total number of items donated in April  –  6,080

Total number of items donated in 2023  –  43,215

Total number of items donated since 1998 –  977,112

Total number of items still to donate to reach 1M  –  22,888 

 

As you can see, we are now into the final quarter and I am confident we will reach 1 Million by the start of the new season.

 

25th Anniversary Celebration

Thank you to everyone who has bought a ticket and I am delighted to report that the initial 100 seats have now completely sold out.

We have agreed with the venue to increase the attendance to 120 and we now only have 7 tickets left. If you want to attend please let me know by return. It promises to be a memorable evening.

We do need some help though in the following areas

 

Auction prizes

Thank you to Ian D who responded to last month’s request by donating a “four ball” golf day at his club in Royston. We still need some more prizes though and particularly the “experience” type of event. Do you know anyone who works in events who might donate a prize?

 

Music entertainment

Unfortunately we have lost our previous opera singer as she is away on 8 September. We have tried another couple of options but they are both performing on the night. We are looking for a single entertainer, not a group, who ideally has limited equipment and a realistic performing fee!  If you know of anyone suitable please let me know.

 

25for25 Challenge

Congratulations and many thanks to Ben Wildman who has completed his challenge of swimming 25 lengths on 25 consecutive days in April. Ben also beat his target and has raised £300 in sponsorship.

Barrie Neal is making great progress in his challenge of visiting 25 grounds across Essex and he has set up a special twitter site with posts at each ground visited. See Twitter @Trip2023E and his JustGiving page at justgiving.com/page/roadtrip-...

I am aware that some others are in the process of arranging challenges and please let me know how you are getting on so we can report back on your progress. If you need the guide to setting up your JustGiving site please let me know.

 

Afi the Golfer

You will recall from last month’s update that Afi was due to play in a tournament in the USA after finally getting her visa.  Fafali pulled out all of the stops and somehow raised the sponsorship needed for her and an accompanying adult to travel to Houston.

Bearing in mind the travelling distance from Accra, jetlag, excitement and nerves, not surprisingly she wasn’t at her best form during the tournament and the event organisers commented on her equipment being inferior to other competitors.

However, it looks likely that Afi will be offered a golf scholarship once she is old enough and the event organisers are now planning on visiting Fafali in Accra with a view to sponsoring a golf academy to give more children an opportunity to play.

Well done Fafali and very well done Afi, an inspirational story that will hopefully give opportunities to more children in Ghana.

 

Regional volunteers

Our regional volunteers all do a fantastic job in collecting kit, storing it all as well as promoting KitAid in their areas. We are really fortunate to have so many volunteers all across the UK doing their bit.

In April three of the volunteers hired vans and drove hundreds of miles to drop the kit off at our storage containers in Hemel Hempstead. More handed over kit to charities in their area who would otherwise have had to travel to Hertfordshire.

The regional volunteer role is key to the success of KitAid and it is a role that could go unnoticed.  A very big thank you to all of our regional volunteers, your support is greatly appreciated.

 

Charity feedback

I thought I would share the following feedback from Fr Jude Lawsamba in Cameroon, which captures the spirit of KitAid

“Words are inadequate to express how grateful I am for the kit donation from your charity to us. This donation will go a long way to help our children back home who have a dream of playing football”

We also appeared in the Reading Today newspaper who started the article describing us as a “World renowned charity” 

And to think it all began 25 years ago with a single box of shirts……………

 

Thanks everyone for your support

Derrick

0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *