News Update – March 2026

Dear All,

Welcome to the new monthly update which we hope you enjoy. The process will take a bit longer to complete now as first I have to write the content, then pass it to Ben to convert to Mailchimp and add in photos, before mailing it to everyone. Apologies to anyone who sits by their inbox on the first day of every month eagerly awaiting the update!!

March was another busy month with 20 kit handovers at the containers plus others in Liverpool, Airdrie and Manchester.  As you will see from the new totals below we are now on the way to our next milestone having passed the 1.25 Million total last month.

Total items of kit donated in March  –     10,010

Total items of kit donated in 2026  –        32,061

Total items of kit donated since 1998  –  1,264,088

Commemorative badges.

The special 1.25 Million badges have arrived and they look really good. Some have already been handed out and a lot will be at the next Hatfield boxing up session on 25 April.

For those of you I will not see over the next few weeks who would like a badge please send a stamped addresed envelope to me and I will bubble wrap it and send it back. Please send to KitAid, 17 The Sonnets, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, Herts, HP1 3RS.

Boxing Up

Hatfield; Sat 25th April

Thanks to those of you who have replied to the email invitation. We currently have 21 attendees and the idea number is 25 to 30, so if you are yet to reply could you please let me know asap. We have a special visit from the Kenyan High Commission who wants to thank us for our support of Kenyan projects over many years.

Jeff has been managing the storeroom each week and it is now three quarters full with kit arriving most days.

Recent Visits

In March we had a run of visits to the container site in addition to the usual kit collections and deliveries.

The Hon. James Gunu, a Regional Minister from the Ghanaian government visited with his team to thank KitAid for our support over many years of projects in the Volta Region and Accra. He came with Rhoda Amezado who we know well through Ngorli/Fafali charities and he was impressed with our operation.

The former Celtic, Spurs and Southampton footballer Victor Wanyama visited to collect some kit for his Foundation in Kenya. We are now looking into a longer term partnership and a visit to a future boxing up session by Victor.

A Colombian TV team visited to film at the container site and I carried out an interview to explain the history of KitAid and how we operate.  This came about through our good friend Fernando whose son is the third choice keeper at Arsenal and he is making a documentary about how young Colombians dream of playing in the World Cup.

1.25 Million Banners

The celebratory banners have now been featured in many photos which Ben has been collating and posting collage photos online. So far we have covered Liverpool, Manchester, Airdrie and Hemel Hempstead/Watford and we will continue until the end of April. The photos are a great way of thanking those who have helped us reach this milestone so please let me know if you have any ideas of how your region could be captured. I found the photo with Graham Taylor holding the 250,000 banner from 2014 and it was great to get another one with the new banner with his stand in the background at Vicarage Road.

You can watch our 1.25 million items banner compilation below.

BBC Morning Live

On 21 April the show will feature a report about football shirts and recycling. Although we are not included in the main story we will be mentioned at the end, with the KitAid logo and website address, as a charity to send kit to. I don’t watch morning TV but if anyone does and they can record the feature it would be great to use in the future.

Watford FC Junior Hornet Boot Collection

On 18 April there will be a boot collection prior to the home match against Sheffield Utd, with all boots being donated to the William Troost Ekong Foundation in Nigeria. We have been helping Ann Swanson the Junior Horner Patron to organise the collection and we have donated kit to William’s project in the past.

We do need some help on the day managing the collection points, so calling upon the WFC Season Ticket holders reading this update, please can you spare an hour before the game to support Ann. Please let me know if you can help.

Well I think that covers March and some of April and as ever, thank you for your support, without which, KitAid could not be so effective.

Please do follow us on all our social media channels below.

Best wishes

Derrick