KitAid Monthly Update – March 2025

Hi all,

February has been another busy month for KitAid with kit deliveries, collections and event planning.  Here are the latest totals

Total items donated in February 2025  –  5,188
Total items donated in 2025  –  10,718
Total items donated since 1998 –  1,135,697

KitAid USA

KitAid USA is now up and running and their first kit donations have been made. A very big thanks to Ben Wildman and Kyle Abts who have arranged things with some shared support using our model.

On 26 March I will be visiting Ben, Kyle and the team in Charlotte, North Carolina, to officially launch the charity. It will be a partnership with two other charities, Sports Friends and MIA, who have agreed to provide storage and volunteers. Please look out for updates on our social media sites and a further report will follow next month.

St Luke’s, Everton

Some of you will be aware that we hold boxing up sessions at St Luke’s Church Hall in Liverpool. St Luke’s is an iconic landmark as it is built into the corner of Goodison Park stadium, the current home of Everton FC. Our very good friends, the Everton Heritage Society also host an exhibition upstairs and every match day they collect kit for us.

Richie Gillham is our lead KitAid co-ordinator in Liverpool and he is also one of the main committee members for the EHS. Sadly St Luke’s is struggling and desperately needs a new boiler and remedial work in the main hall, which we use for boxing up.  An appeal has been set up to raise £25,000 to meet the repair costs and so far £5,710 has been raised.

If you are able to support the appeal it would help them and also help KitAid secure the use of the hall, please see https://gofund.me/43c64e8a

Zanil Jussab, Bill Antonio

When KitAid FC was formed in Mulanje, Malawi in 2019 by a group of boys asking for a kit, little did we know that it would lead on to a career in football for one of the boys. Zanil was selected to play for the Malawi U16 national team and he played in a tournament in Lesotho. He is now in the Malawi U20 team and plays in the reserves for the top team, Nyasa Big Bullets, in the Malawi Super League. His younger brother plays for KitAid FC U16’s.

Bill Antonio is from Harare, Zimbabwe, and we have a lovely picture of him as a teenager wearing a Watford FC training top.

Bill Antonio

Bill Antonio

Bill now plays in the Belgian Premier League for KV Mechelen. Last year he suffered from a torn ACL and after breaking into the first team and scoring he missed the rest of the season and most of this. Thankfully he is now fully recovered and is playing in the first team once again.

Bill Antonio now – at KV Mechelen

These are just a couple of examples of the talent that exists in the projects we support and how the kit can enable greater opportunities.

“It’s more than just a shirt……..”

We recently gave kit to an Orthodontist Nurse from Watford Hospital as she was heading out to Mozambique with a group of dentists. While she was there they treated over 600 people and extracted 1200 teeth from people who were in chronic pain. They could not believe that they could eat pain free within a day.

We also give kit to a nurse who travels to Ethiopia with the charity Clubfoot International, who work with children to reverse the terrible impact of being born with clubfoot.

We are fortunate to meet such inspirational people and to play a small part in bringing smiles following treatment.

Positive footnote!

I always like to end on a positive  note and here are a couple of recent comments we received.

“It still amazes me that in this day and age there are people who really care”

“Your generosity in supplying high quality football kits has been instrumental in allowing me to give back to communities through sports. Thanks to you, I have been able to touch lives, create opportunities, and make a lasting impact. I truly appreciate everything you do.”

“The kit you give me is changing lives. It’s giving me a purpose of life by donating.”

Thanks everyone for your support of KitAid, together we are making a difference.

Have a good month and to those who are coming to the boxing up session in Hatfield tomorrow morning, see you there.

Derrick

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KitAid Monthly Update – February 2025

Hi all,

The New Year has started off where the old one left and January has been another good month for KitAid. Here are the latest totals:

Total items donated in January/2025  =  5,530
Total items donated since 1998           =  1,130,509

Ricky Road Run

You may recall KitAid was chosen as one of the charities for the 40th Ricky Road Run which was held last October.

We had a wonderful surprise when an amazing donation of £4,080 was transferred to the KitAid bank account as our share of the proceeds from the event.  This is one of the biggest single donations we have ever received and it will pay for the container hire costs for the whole of 2025.

A massive thank you and congratulations to the team of graduates from Affinity Water who organised the event and to all of the race sponsors and runners.

Hertfordshire FA

Ben Wildman and myself attended an evening event for Charter Standard Clubs across the County. We were given a 15 minute slot at the meeting to present on KitAid. Interestingly more than half of the Clubs present had previously donated to KitAid but it was a really useful opportunity to remind people of our work.

From the meeting we have started discussions with Garston Ladies about setting up a twinning partnership with Lobangula City Queens from Zimbabwe. Once this is established we will look to extend the arrangement with some other Clubs. If you are reading this and you are from a Club who might be interested in twinning please let me know.

Vin O’Brien

Vin recently let me know that he has decided to retire as a Regional Rep for Formby after many years of service to KitAid.

I would like to pay tribute to Vin as without his support in the very early years I am certain KitAid would not be in the position it is today. In 2005 Sally Howe and myself attended a meeting at Anfield and met Vin for the very first time. Vin worked in the main PR team at Liverpool FC. He immediately understood what KitAid was about and he arranged to take the Champions League trophy into a local school, let the children have their photo taken with it and arranged for the donations to be presented to KitAid on the pitch at half time at Anfield. When he retired from the Club he came on board as a Regional Rep.

In the early years KitAid needed to build a reputation and to get the support of some big name clubs.  Vin’s support laid the foundations of where KitAid is today.

Enjoy your second retirement Vin and many thanks from all of your friends at KitAid.

2025 Thank You certificates

I have posted a number of certificates to the Regional Coordinators I am unlikely to see at a boxing up session in Hatfield. If you haven’t received any and you are unlikely to attend the next boxing up session please let me know. The next session is pencilled in for 8 March, and once the venue availability is confirmed, I will send out the invitation email.

Positive End Note

We received the following message from the Yayotse Organisation in Ghana which really captures the spirit of KitAid and why we all do what we do:

“KitAid has, by this donation, afforded our young people, who are mostly underprivileged and underserved, a glimmer of hope and a sense of belongingness that the world has their back.”

Thanks to everyone for your support which makes the above possible.

Derrick
KitAid

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