KitAid Monthly Update – April 2024

April was another busy month for KitAid and it was great to get out to visit charity partners across these fair isles. The totals are growing and here are the latest figures.

Total items of kit donated in April  –  5,320

Total items of kit donated in 2024  –  22,835

Total items donated since 1998  –  1,050,283

Glasgow Kiltwalk – Diamonds in the Community

We were delighted to take part in the biggest ever Kiltwalk last Sunday as part of the wonderful Diamonds in the Community (DITC) team. The sun shone and the 14 miles along the banks of the River Leven to Balloch and Loch Lomond were beautiful.

If you attended our 25th Anniversary celebration you will have heard Dougy Allsop speaking about the incredible community work DITC delivers. We have been supported by Dougy and his team for 10 years as they operate as the main Hub for KitAid across Scotland. They now deliver a wide range of support programmes for Airdrie and surrounding communities. They are a wonderful team and it was great to join them for their biggest fundraising event of the year and to present them with a special recognition of 10 years partnership.

Thanks to Mark Smith and Steve Andersen who also took part and we will definitely be returning next year, with hopefully a bigger team from KitAid. There is a choice of walking distances from 3, 14 or 23 miles and you don’t have to wear a kilt!

FC United of Manchester kit amnesty 

From sunny Glasgow to liquid sunshine in Moston!!

I arrived at the ground soon after midday to meet regional coordinator Peter Moulds outside the ground. A visit to the stands saw a very soggy, rain soaked pitch and some concerned officials! Fortunately the rain stopped and the ground staff cleared away some goalmouth puddles, which allowed the game to go ahead.

We were joined outside the stadium by Gillian and Chris Coxhead from FOMO Malawi, as they had travelled down from Preston to help with the collection. And to hold on to our display to stop it taking off in the Manchester breeze! A car load of kit was donated and it will all be heading off to Malawi in the next few months.

Thanks to Peter for arranging the collection and to the Club for their hospitality.  They won the game 3-0 so all in all, a good day out.

“Say it with a Smile”

I am always intrigued how the KitAid story resonates with different groups and it was lovely to be invited to give a presentation to this dementia support group in Watford. Football is a universal language and with the lovely film stories we now have, it is easy to share the good news.

“Say it with a Smile” is a volunteer run charity and we have close links as Hannah who runs it and some of her volunteers all worked at the WFC Community Trust and some also volunteer for KitAid. As a result of the presentation we will be donating some kit for a project in Kenya as one of the attendees is a trustee for the charity involved.

Boxing Up/Kit Donations

Our next boxing up session is on Saturday morning at Hatfield. If by chance you are reading this and still to respond we would love to see you.

We have received some wonderful kit donations recently, from The FA, Liverpool FC Foundation, Manchester United, British Canoeing, European Golf Tour, Reading FC as well as many donations to regional coordinators across the country. Storage is always an issue but fortunately we can turn things around quickly as we have so many people asking for kit. Our couriers, PCS Logistics Ltd, have also been really helpful in terms of offering emergency storage when the containers are full.

Thanks to all of our RC’s for collecting and storing the kit too.

FILM Friday

You may have noticed a theme on a Friday morning as Ben issues his latest blockbuster on X/Linkedin. They are great and he kindly edits some of our older film clips and makes them into a short story.

Our number of followers on all social media sites is creeping up and we are just 10 followers away from reaching 4,000 on X/Twitter.

HELP NEEDED

On 11 May we have been given a stand to collect kit at a Hertfordshire Girls all day tournament in Bushey.

On 15 June we have been invited to have a stand at Kings Langley YFC community day.

Both events are in the Watford area but I need some help to attend at both events and we need a gazebo and table for Kings Langley. Please let me know if you can help.

Well I think that is everything for April, save to say, thanks very much for your support and for being an integral part of Team KitAid.

Have a good May

Derrick