Airdrieonians FC Kit Amnesty

A massive thank you to Dougy Allsop and the team from AFC Supporters Trust who collected nearly 4,000 items of kit for us from their season ticket campaign kit amnesty. This was a fantastic project and we have now built a really good link with the club and the Supporters Trust thanks to Dougy.

All of the kit arrived on Monday and the storeroom is now floor to ceiling with black bin bags full of shirts from all over Scotland. Some of us are heading north to visit AFC on 8 November when they play a game against Stenhousemuir, who we also have strong links with.

It’s not too late to join us if you fancy a weekend of footy, fun and no doubt a few liquid refreshments. Dougy worried me when he sent a text saying “bring your raincoat but leave your liver behind” There are some good photos on our twitter/blog sites of the shirts being sorted in Airdrie and we look forward to seeing pictures of them all being worn in Africa over the next few months.

Thanks to all involved and we look forward to continuing working with Dougy and his team in the future.

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FC united Manchester Collection

Thanks to Peter for arranging another really good collection at FC United. We travelled up in the KitAid Tour Bus, (Kenny Lawrence’s van), and we had a great day. This was the fifth collection we have held with the club and it was evident that we are becoming well known with their fans.

We also had some players donating kit and other clubs ( Stalybridge Celtic and Grantham Town) also got involved by donating kit on the day. We received some good publicity and as FC United have a big twitter following our views for the week peaked at 10,500.

Thanks again to Peter and FC United and we really hope you get the promotion you deserve after missing out in the play off final for the last three seasons. Thanks also to Kenny and Rob Lawrence who drove us there and back, provided the van and fuel all free of charge.

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Nyumanzi camp, North Uganda

Recently we received a kind donation from one of the biggest clubs in the world Manchester United.  The red kit of United is recognised no matter where you are in the world and the recipients of this kit was the Nyumanzi Camp in North Uganda.

Please watch this short video to see how this kit was greatly received. 

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From Carrington to Northern Uganda

We were very fortunate to receive a donation of fantastic training kit from Manchester United recently from their training complex at Carrington.  Some of the kit has now found its way to a massive refugee camp in Northern Uganda which houses 100,000 displaced people who have fled South Sudan.

The kit was taken out for us by the Watford based charity, Eagles Wings and it was delivered by their founder, Bruce Oliver.  He explained that many of the people have no possessions and there is nothing to do for the thousands of young people.  The kits are now being used as part of a football project where teams wear it in inter zone matches and play tournaments.

As we say, it really is more than just a shirt as it brings hope where little exists.  Thanks to the kit managers at Carrington who kindly sorted and helped get it to us.

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Watford FC Open Day

We had a great time at the WFC Open Day and really appreciate the support from the club.  We received a lot of shirts on the day, mainly Hornets ones, as well as some great training kit from the club.  We also met a lot of fans and explained how we work and who we are.  A lot already knew of us which is encouraging and the retweets by the club certainly helped with this. 

Many thanks to all of the fans who donated shirts and to Alex Ashby who is one of the main organisers.  Good luck for the new season, COYH.

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KitAid Grants

Probably one of the most enjoyable aspects of KitAid is being able to help so many people across the world.  As you will know, we operate a very cost effective model and we have always worked on the basis that if we do build up a surplus of funds, we will mange our finances responsibly and make grants for what we consider to be surplus to needs, rather than sitting on money in the bank.

As a result of the 15th Anniversary Dinner and some other donations we were able to release £4k for small grants to charities we know and work with.  We have made the following grants to

  • Craft Aid – £1,000                     Working with orphanages and sports projects in Uganda
  • Stegota FC – £1,000                To be used on a special project for the community to supply shirt printing equipment
  • Maleala Lesotho – £750          To buy kit, equipment and boots for 35 players from age of 10 – 16 years
  • Mbale Uganda – £1,000          To buy kit, equipment, goal posts, netballs for 200 pupils at Budwale Secondary School
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Ballysillan, Belfast

We visited the brilliant Footy Camp project on 18 July to see the final day of the event, which really is a great day.  I have been 5 times now and each time I come away totally inspired by the great work Peter (Thompson) and his team do, but I do think this years camp was the best ever. 

The atmosphere was great and the boys were buzzing.  We all ran the “gauntlet” and survived and World Cup final went to penalties which Holland won (so I did get to see Holland wing the WC after all). We also visited the drop in centre where all of the great work takes place throughout the year  and Peter showed us a model of new centre which will be built, from later on this year.

It was great that Jason Fidler and the team from Charlie’s Gift were able to come along as well, especially as their donation funded the camp this year.  We had a great time and I think everyone came away feeling it was money well spent and we know we have made the right decision to keep supporting Peter in his amazing work.

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The Chernobyl Children

For the last 4 years we have had a tenuous link with another great charity who arrange for a plane load of children from Belarus, who still are affected by the Chernobyl radiation fall out, to spend a month in the UK with host families.

Through our link with Affinity Water we arrange for them to spend a day at our Environment and Education Centre, which they absolutely love. 

We also give them a goody bag which includes some new kit and other presents.  The children actually boost their immunity in the time they are in the UK to see them through the next 18 months, which is quite amazing. 

If you know of anyone who might be able to arrange a special visit for them please let me know at derrick.williams@affinitywater.co.uk

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Forthcoming Activities for August & September

As ever, we have a busy diary of events which we would love to include you all in.  We never say no to help, so if you can get involved please let me know.

  • Watford FC Open Day                                                               6 August
  • Charlie Fidler Tournament, Hemel Hempstead                 6 September
  • Non League Day kit collection at Chesham Utd                 6 September
  • FC United of Manchester collection, Stalybridge                20 September
  • Boxing up, Hatfield                                                                    27 September

 

We are conscious of how much all of you do behind the scenes and without this we would definitely struggle.  Thanks for your support and may your team make you proud for the new season!!

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Arsenal Ladies

We recently met Rachel Yankey and at our last boxing up session it was great to meet Jordan Nobbs.

I have always wanted to develop a partnership with ALFC as they are followed all over the world and it links in with a lot of the work we do to support girls football/sports projects across Africa. Both Rachel and Jordan were lovely, really down to earth and refreshingly interested in what we do.

Again, the power of twitter showed itself as Jordan tweeted a photo we took at boxing up and this was viewed by 5,800 people, including followers in Japan, America and Germany.

If you don’t use twitter, have a look online at www.twitter.com/kitaid Thanks to Louisa for arranging the meet up and we are hoping to involve Arsenal Ladies a lot more in the future.

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