Following receipt of some really great photos from Ismail Jama, we posted them on to Facebook and Twitter and they very quickly got noticed by a journalist writing for Wales Online as there were some of Cardiff City kits. This is a much viewed website, especially in Wales(!), and we received some follow up contacts and more followers on our sites. This is another example of the power of good photos,which is why we constantly ask the charities we work with to send them in. It is also good for the clubs and we have cemented our relationship with Cardiff City as a result.
We have sponsored the week long footy camp once again this year, and as I say every year, this is the most inspiring project in our annual calendar.
If anyone would like to make the annual trip to Belfast in late July please conatct us at kitaid@affinitywater.co.uk.
We always have a brilliant time, not only at the football camp, but also in Belfast City Centre on the Thursday/Friday nights.
Anyone else who has been on previous trips will be able to confirm this! Let me know if you are interested.
Many congratulations to John on winning the Pride of Swindon award!
He is chaplain for the Wiltshire Fire Service, coaches a local football team, but John is also one of our Regional Reps.
His work for KitAid was cited, not only for collecting kits but also for the work he carries out in The Gambia when he takes kit out twice a year.
Well done John, we are all pleased for you.
You may have spotted on twitter/facebook that Eniola very kindly donated her winnings to KitAid and mentioned her support of our work during the programme.
This resulted in immediate social media activity and some positive feedback and interest.
It really does prove the power of national TV coverage and hopefully there will be more to follow.
Since the last update we have held our first ever boxing up away from Hatfield and the first session of 2016.
The boxing up in Manchester went really well and it was a great learning experience. A very big thank you to Janet (Neville) for all of the organising and to Peter (Moulds) for persuading FC United of Manchester to allow us the full run of their very impressive new ground.
We had full access to all of the rooms and we quickly found out the best way to set things out to keep the production line moving. Altogether an impressive 70 boxes were packed and they all left the stadium with different charities plus a few that were sent to storage for later pick up.
We proved it can work and Janet is looking to hold the next session in April when FC United have an away match. We will let you know the details but for any of our helpers north of Birmingham, it would be great to see you.
Our first session of 2016 in Hatfield went well and all 133 boxes packed are now on the way to Africa. Our next session will be on Sat 5 March 2016, so please do reply to the recent invite sent by Claire if you haven’t already done so.
You may be aware that we have a policy of considering grant application requests for amounts of circa £1,000 when our funds allow. We have worked with the Malalo Sports Foundation in Zambia for a number of years and at our Trustee meeting in January agreed to consider their latest grant request.
The project will cover three distinct areas,
- Clearing land for 2 football pitches, 2 Volleyball courts and 2 Netball courts
- Purchase of sports equipment
- Health Education and Football Coaching courses with the aim of re-integrating some young people who have dropped out of school via scholarships.
We will receive regular feedback as the project progresses and will release the funds in 2 separate transactions.
We also agreed to continue our sponsorship of the brilliant Ballysillan YFC Football Camp in Belfast for a further year.
You may recall that we were contacted last year by some people in Canberra who wanted to set up a version of KitAid. I have recently been in touch with them and they are soon to send their very first container shipment to The Gambia, having spent most of 2015 collecting kit donations from all across Australia. See their local news story.
A couple of weeks ago I received a similar contact from someone in America and have entered into a dialogue with him sharing much of the same advice I gave to the Canberra team.
I am not sure if anything will develop from this but if it does it will be incredible to think that little old KitAid has spread across the globe and will be operating on 3 different continents as well as supporting kit projects in Africa, Europe, Asia and South America!!
Amazing.
Our first ever boxing up session outside of Hatfield is now planned for Sat 28 November in Manchester. We are really excited about this and thanks very much to Janet and Peter for making this happen.
Peter, through his contacts at FC United of Manchester, has arranged for us to be given access to a large room in their brand new stadium at Broadhurst Park. We are really pleased that we have finally made this happen as we have always thought it would be great to have another boxing up option which other Regional helpers can attend without having to drive all the way down to Hatfield.
It is also daft that we often transport the kit down here when it can easily be sorted and handed over to charities in the region. Next on the agenda is a Midlands boxing up for our friends in Birmingham, Leicester, Burton etc.
If you'd like to get involved please contact Derrick Williams at kitaid@affinitywater.co.uk
This was another successful event and once all of the proceeds have been collected KitAid will receive 5% of the total, which last year amounted to £1,600.
A big thank you to the Graduates from Affinity Water who organised the event and on a personal note, I am really pleased to see this event reaching its 32nd year as I was involved in the very first RRR all those years ago.
It has now raised an incredible £350k for WaterAid and other charities since its inception
Many thanks to Janet for collecting all of the kit donated by fans at the recent kit amnesty.
This campaign generated a lot of interest, including a mention on the main BBC Sport web site, and some great comments on twitter.
All of the shirts will be sorted and donated at the next boxing up session in Manchester, thus saving an unnecessary trip to Hatfield and a courier fee, as well as helping to improve our carbon footprint.
KitAid is a charity founded by Derrick Williams MBE in 1998, to provide kit and equipment to those who do not have access to resources across Africa and the developing world.
Finding a home for your unwanted football kit in Africa and beyond.Kitaid is a charity registered in England & Wales no. 1113968.
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