I hope you all enjoyed the (first) heatwave and the start of the World Cup.
June was a busy month despite missing the last 10 days due to a holiday as you can see from the following totals:
Total items of kit donated in June – 9,466
Total items of kit donated so far in 2026 – 59,498
Total items of kit donated since 1998 – 1,291,525
Harry Mnisi Sports Day – South Africa
Thanks to a donation to KitAid from Family FC, we were able to jointly co-sponsor the Sports Day event in Acornhoek, South Africa. Ben W also attended, as his full-time charity role with SportsFriends allowed him to stay for a week to train over 100 coaches. KitAid provided kit to all the teams. You can check the video out here.
International Call Up
Many congratulations to Amanda A, the regional coordinator for the High Wycombe area, on her call-up to the International Walking Football Federation England team. Amanda currently plays for the Watford FC Walking Football team and as far as I can recall, she is our first regional volunteer to represent her country.
her first England game will be in September and we will share the date and venue once they are known.
FUNDRAISING – HELP!
As mentioned in the last monthly update, we now spend £800 every month on storage, plus additional costs for couriers collecting large kit donations. If we do not receive any further financial donations we will run out of funds in August 2027. You may remember that during our 25th Anniversary year we held the “25 for 25” fundraising campaign which raised over £4,000. Ben is looking to repeat this success and will soon launch a 2026 version. Look out for details on our social media sites and please join Ben if you are able to.
Harpenden Colts kit collection
On a very rainy day at the start of June we made our annual visit to the Colts Awards Day and collected hundreds of shirts and pairs of boots. We have built a strong partnership with the Club over many years and we are very grateful for their support. The shirts have started making their way to projects across Africa where they will join thousands more from earlier donations.
Mayor of Watford Presentation
I was recently invited to give a presentation to Peter Taylor, the elected Mayor of Watford, on the work of KitAid. It was a very productive meeting, and he was impressed with the scale of our work and our operating model. It was appropriate as we have strong links with the town via Watford FC and Graham Taylor, our former President.
Monthly Update Emails – Please Check Your Spam Folders!
You will have noticed the change in format for this monthly update, as we now use “Mailchimp” to include photos, links, and other graphics. We have to pay £200 per annum for the basic package. We noticed that only 60% of our contacts opened last month’s update which may be because the new format mailing goes to Spam folders.It may also be because some people do not wish to receive the update and if so, please let us know.
Looking Ahead
11 July – Boxing Up Session – Hatfield.
21 July – Coffee Morning Presentation – Chelmsford.
24 July – Attending Ballysillan Football Camp – Belfast.
Positive Ending
“KitAid is changing lives, preventing serious adversity amongst many vulnerable children and people around the world and in addition, putting smiles on very sad faces.”
Have a great July and if you are reading this before the Mexico game, COME ON ENGLAND!
Many thanks,
Derrick