Hi all,

I hope you are all well.

September was an incredible month as we celebrated 25 years as well as reaching the One Million items of donated kit milestones. Certainly a month to remember. Here are the main highlights and latest news.

Total items sent out in September  –  6,230

Total items sent out in 2023  –            74,480

Total items sent out since 1998  –      1,008,132

25th Anniversary Celebration

Now the dust has settled I think we can look back on a wonderful event where everything came together and the months of planning were rewarded. Thanks to everyone who played their part in making this happen and for those who were unable to attend I will attach a copy of the 25 Year brochure given out on the night and a link to our new YouTube Channel which includes some of the presentation films shown on the night.

The Auction and Raffle raised £3,000 and we received a further £1,000 in donations from supporters, which is fantastic. Thanks to everyone who donated prizes.

The press release which followed the celebration was published by the Watford Observer,the Non League Paper, the Bucks Free Press, Watford FC, Reading FC and some shared media outlets. It is a shame none of the National press picked up on it, especially as we had Gareth Southgate as the main lead item, but it might be worth issuing another release at the end of the year. Many thanks to Peter Rennison for managing the release along with PRPR and Rachel Williams.

A final thank you to our sponsors, Salford Van Hire, Family FC and Five Star Trophies, who all made the event possible.  Roll on 2028!

Boxing Up – Saturday 7 October – Hatfield

Thanks to those who replied to the invitation email and we currently have 20 attendees.  If you are still to reply and would like to join us please let me know, as 25 is the ideal number to make things run smoothly. There will be special 25 Year cupcakes and an historic group photo with the One Million banner to look forward to.

New Linkedin and YouTube Channel

Many thanks to Ben W for setting up a new Linked in page. It currently only has 33 followers so let’s get this to 100+ by the next monthly update. The link is https://www.linkedin.com/company/kit-aid/?viewAsMember=true

Ben has also set up a new YouTube Channel to keep all of the wonderful KitAid films together.  As well as the films shown on the Celebration night, there are some others which are really great. You may not have seen some of them and I can recommend watching them on a dark Autumn evening!  The link is via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMH99146mSle0ag2Gq11Nug

International Sports Convention – March 2024

KitAid has been invited to attend the above prestigious event next year and I have also been asked to speak on an environmental sustainability panel. It is held at Spurs White Hart Lane stadium over two days, with over 1,000 attendees from across Europe. We have been chosen as one of the charities and attendees will be asked to either bring kit or to donate kit after the event. It is attended by all of the major brands as well as governing bodies such as UEFA and FIFA. The press launch announcing our attendance is due to happen this coming month.

Cambridge United kit collection

Many thanks to Ian D and Matt T for managing a great kit collection at the CUFC v Port Vale game recently. A van load of kit was donated by the Club, the Foundation and supporters and Ian is kindly storing this for us at his house until we have space in the containers. Cambridge United is a new club to KitAid and due to the great work by Ian in developing the relationship, they are looking to be long term supporters.

The invitation to attend the Internal Sports Convention came about as the chairman of ISC is a Cambridge United supporter and read about our work via the kit collection.  It goes to show how things can develop from events.

25 for 25 Challenge

Many congratulations to Barrie N on completing his challenge of visiting 25 football grounds across Essex. Barrie also raised over £500 and gained an amazing amount of online publicity throughout the challenge. He also made a lot of new friends at each Club many of whom will continue to support us with end of season kit donations.

Congratulations also to Peter D on completing his swimming challenge and raising £300. I think the only other challenge that is ongoing is Karen A’s running challenge. and I will get an update for next month.

With all of the challenges combined we have now raised £2,200.  Wouldn’t it be great to get this to £2,500 in the three months we have left for the 25th Anniversary year.  Who is up for the challenge? Each person who has taken part will receive a beautiful glass shield from our good friends at Five Star Trophies.

Hatfield 5k Business Park Run

Once again KitAid was the chosen charity for this event and we received £900 from the race entry fees. This is all due to the hard work and support of Steve Thake and Michelle Plain from Affinity Water, who host the event and nominate KitAid to the event organisers. Many thanks to Steve and Michelle for your great support.

The end bit!

I always like to finish the monthly update on a high and here is another lovely story. There are many tasks which take place over the year to make KitAid such a success, and some inevitably go unnoticed. One example is how Jeff S drives from Potters Bar to Hatfield every fortnight to collect parcels which have been delivered to the Affinity Water office. He opens each package and where there is a letter or email address included, he then posts off a Thank You certificate to the kit donor. He received the following thank you

You’re most welcome [in respect of the donation], I’ll certainly endeavour to send some more kit down as and when I find it, and in the meantime would like to thank you and your KitAid colleagues for all your efforts and sterling work – knowing what ‘new’ kit meant to me and my children, I have no doubt your efforts help to put many smiles on many faces of grateful recipients worldwide.

Thank you Jeff, this is what makes KitAid so special to so many people.

Thanks to everyone for your tremendous support and I look forward to seeing some of you on Saturday morning at Hatfield.

Derrick