Hi all,
August was another busy month with 19 visits to the containers for kit collections and another 6 for kit drop offs. Here are the latest totals:-
Total items of kit donated in August – 7,554
Total items of kit donated in 2025 – 65,734
Total items of kit donated since 1998 – 1,191,680
Our aim to reach 1,200,000 by the end of the year should be reached in the next couple of months.
Boxing Up Sessions – Hatfield/Liverpool
Many thanks to those who have replied to the invitation to attend the Hatfield session on 20 September. We are currently low on attendees and if you are still to reply or would like to attend please let me know as soon as possible.
The session at Liverpool has been arranged for Sunday morning 28 September at a new venue in West Derby. If you would like to help out please let Merseyside Regional Co-ordinator, Richie Gillham, know. His email is rwgsiteman1967@icloud.com
Your support of these sessions is key to getting kit sorted, boxed and donated to the many charity partners who are waiting to deliver it all.
Tim L’s visit to Malawi
Tim is the parent of a player from Harpenden Colts and he contacted us as he had arranged to visit Malawi. He was born there but hadn’t returned for 40 years and he wanted to show his son his birthplace.
We arranged for them to meet up with our very good friends FOMO Malawi in Mulanji. Tim took out a suitcase full of Harpenden Colts kit and he was hosted by Mary and Keith for a couple of days. They visited one of the 14 centres and distributed kit as well as meeting the KitAid FC boys.
As HC have been so supportive for many years it is great that members of the club were able to see at first hand the benefits of their support.
Partnerships
We have always been very keen to share our contacts, to bring charities from the same country together and to share knowledge.
For this reason we were delighted to set up a meeting between Emile from RAF Halton (Wendover) and Joe from Hemel Hempstead, who both support projects in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Incredibly, Emile has bought some land which is only 5 miles away from where Joe is based in Freetown but their paths had never crossed. They are now going to work together when Emile has to send out his next container.
Ricky Road Run – 26 October
Entries are now open for this long standing 10 mile road run, via www.rickyroadrun.co.uk starting and finishing in Rickmansworth.
As we are once again one of the supported charities it would be great if we could enter a team. Do you know anyone who can run this distance and would be happy to run for KitAid? If we can raise a team of 5 we can provide branded tshirts.
They also need marshals.
Please let me know if you can help with either.
Forthcoming Diary Dates
10 September – Hatfield Business Park Run presentation
13 September – Launch of KitAid Scotland, Airdrie
20 September – Hatfield Boxing Up session
28 September – Liverpool Boxing Up session
Positive End story
As well as receiving photos it is always lovely to receive feedback on how the kit has benefited projects and the community. The following quotes from a project in South Africa really capture the benefits and joy of receiving kit
“Your support has made a meaningful impact and we are truly thankful.
We were proud to include women in the distribution of football kits, it was a powerful moment of inclusion and empowerment.
The football teams were especially thrilled as they previously had no kit of their own.
Your donation not only equipped them but also uplifted their spirits.”
Vusi Mathebula
A big thank you to everyone for your support.
Take care
Derrick