Please take a look at our 25th Anniversary Celebration booklet to read about how KitAid has grown from one box of kit to one million donated items since 1998.
Hi all,
I hope you are all well.
September was an incredible month as we celebrated 25 years as well as reaching the One Million items of donated kit milestones. Certainly a month to remember. Here are the main highlights and latest news.
Total items sent out in September – 6,230
Total items sent out in 2023 – 74,480
Total items sent out since 1998 – 1,008,132
25th Anniversary Celebration
Now the dust has settled I think we can look back on a wonderful event where everything came together and the months of planning were rewarded. Thanks to everyone who played their part in making this happen and for those who were unable to attend I will attach a copy of the 25 Year brochure given out on the night and a link to our new YouTube Channel which includes some of the presentation films shown on the night.
The Auction and Raffle raised £3,000 and we received a further £1,000 in donations from supporters, which is fantastic. Thanks to everyone who donated prizes.
The press release which followed the celebration was published by the Watford Observer,the Non League Paper, the Bucks Free Press, Watford FC, Reading FC and some shared media outlets. It is a shame none of the National press picked up on it, especially as we had Gareth Southgate as the main lead item, but it might be worth issuing another release at the end of the year. Many thanks to Peter Rennison for managing the release along with PRPR and Rachel Williams.
A final thank you to our sponsors, Salford Van Hire, Family FC and Five Star Trophies, who all made the event possible. Roll on 2028!
Boxing Up – Saturday 7 October – Hatfield
Thanks to those who replied to the invitation email and we currently have 20 attendees. If you are still to reply and would like to join us please let me know, as 25 is the ideal number to make things run smoothly. There will be special 25 Year cupcakes and an historic group photo with the One Million banner to look forward to.
New Linkedin and YouTube Channel
Many thanks to Ben W for setting up a new Linked in page. It currently only has 33 followers so let’s get this to 100+ by the next monthly update. The link is https://www.linkedin.com/company/kit-aid/?viewAsMember=true
Ben has also set up a new YouTube Channel to keep all of the wonderful KitAid films together. As well as the films shown on the Celebration night, there are some others which are really great. You may not have seen some of them and I can recommend watching them on a dark Autumn evening! The link is via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMH99146mSle0ag2Gq11Nug
International Sports Convention – March 2024
KitAid has been invited to attend the above prestigious event next year and I have also been asked to speak on an environmental sustainability panel. It is held at Spurs White Hart Lane stadium over two days, with over 1,000 attendees from across Europe. We have been chosen as one of the charities and attendees will be asked to either bring kit or to donate kit after the event. It is attended by all of the major brands as well as governing bodies such as UEFA and FIFA. The press launch announcing our attendance is due to happen this coming month.
Cambridge United kit collection
Many thanks to Ian D and Matt T for managing a great kit collection at the CUFC v Port Vale game recently. A van load of kit was donated by the Club, the Foundation and supporters and Ian is kindly storing this for us at his house until we have space in the containers. Cambridge United is a new club to KitAid and due to the great work by Ian in developing the relationship, they are looking to be long term supporters.
The invitation to attend the Internal Sports Convention came about as the chairman of ISC is a Cambridge United supporter and read about our work via the kit collection. It goes to show how things can develop from events.
25 for 25 Challenge
Many congratulations to Barrie N on completing his challenge of visiting 25 football grounds across Essex. Barrie also raised over £500 and gained an amazing amount of online publicity throughout the challenge. He also made a lot of new friends at each Club many of whom will continue to support us with end of season kit donations.
Congratulations also to Peter D on completing his swimming challenge and raising £300. I think the only other challenge that is ongoing is Karen A’s running challenge. and I will get an update for next month.
With all of the challenges combined we have now raised £2,200. Wouldn’t it be great to get this to £2,500 in the three months we have left for the 25th Anniversary year. Who is up for the challenge? Each person who has taken part will receive a beautiful glass shield from our good friends at Five Star Trophies.
Hatfield 5k Business Park Run
Once again KitAid was the chosen charity for this event and we received £900 from the race entry fees. This is all due to the hard work and support of Steve Thake and Michelle Plain from Affinity Water, who host the event and nominate KitAid to the event organisers. Many thanks to Steve and Michelle for your great support.
The end bit!
I always like to finish the monthly update on a high and here is another lovely story. There are many tasks which take place over the year to make KitAid such a success, and some inevitably go unnoticed. One example is how Jeff S drives from Potters Bar to Hatfield every fortnight to collect parcels which have been delivered to the Affinity Water office. He opens each package and where there is a letter or email address included, he then posts off a Thank You certificate to the kit donor. He received the following thank you
You’re most welcome [in respect of the donation], I’ll certainly endeavour to send some more kit down as and when I find it, and in the meantime would like to thank you and your KitAid colleagues for all your efforts and sterling work – knowing what ‘new’ kit meant to me and my children, I have no doubt your efforts help to put many smiles on many faces of grateful recipients worldwide.
Thank you Jeff, this is what makes KitAid so special to so many people.
Thanks to everyone for your tremendous support and I look forward to seeing some of you on Saturday morning at Hatfield.
Derrick
Hi all,
I hope you are all well.
September was an incredible month as we celebrated 25 years as well as reaching the One Million items of donated kit milestones. Certainly a month to remember. Here are the main highlights and latest news.
Total items sent out in September – 6,230
Total items sent out in 2023 – 74,480
Total items sent out since 1998 – 1,008,132
25th Anniversary Celebration
Now the dust has settled I think we can look back on a wonderful event where everything came together and the months of planning were rewarded. Thanks to everyone who played their part in making this happen and for those who were unable to attend I will attach a copy of the 25 Year brochure given out on the night and a link to our new YouTube Channel which includes some of the presentation films shown on the night.
The Auction and Raffle raised £3,000 and we received a further £1,000 in donations from supporters, which is fantastic. Thanks to everyone who donated prizes.
The press release which followed the celebration was published by the Watford Observer,the Non League Paper, the Bucks Free Press, Watford FC, Reading FC and some shared media outlets. It is a shame none of the National press picked up on it, especially as we had Gareth Southgate as the main lead item, but it might be worth issuing another release at the end of the year. Many thanks to Peter Rennison for managing the release along with PRPR and Rachel Williams.
A final thank you to our sponsors, Salford Van Hire, Family FC and Five Star Trophies, who all made the event possible. Roll on 2028!
Boxing Up – Saturday 7 October – Hatfield
Thanks to those who replied to the invitation email and we currently have 20 attendees. If you are still to reply and would like to join us please let me know, as 25 is the ideal number to make things run smoothly. There will be special 25 Year cupcakes and an historic group photo with the One Million banner to look forward to.
New Linkedin and YouTube Channel
Many thanks to Ben W for setting up a new Linked in page. It currently only has 33 followers so let’s get this to 100+ by the next monthly update. The link is https://www.linkedin.com/company/kit-aid/?viewAsMember=true
Ben has also set up a new YouTube Channel to keep all of the wonderful KitAid films together. As well as the films shown on the Celebration night, there are some others which are really great. You may not have seen some of them and I can recommend watching them on a dark Autumn evening! The link is via https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMH99146mSle0ag2Gq11Nug
International Sports Convention – March 2024
KitAid has been invited to attend the above prestigious event next year and I have also been asked to speak on an environmental sustainability panel. It is held at Spurs White Hart Lane stadium over two days, with over 1,000 attendees from across Europe. We have been chosen as one of the charities and attendees will be asked to either bring kit or to donate kit after the event. It is attended by all of the major brands as well as governing bodies such as UEFA and FIFA. The press launch announcing our attendance is due to happen this coming month.
Cambridge United kit collection
Many thanks to Ian D and Matt T for managing a great kit collection at the CUFC v Port Vale game recently. A van load of kit was donated by the Club, the Foundation and supporters and Ian is kindly storing this for us at his house until we have space in the containers. Cambridge United is a new club to KitAid and due to the great work by Ian in developing the relationship, they are looking to be long term supporters.
The invitation to attend the Internal Sports Convention came about as the chairman of ISC is a Cambridge United supporter and read about our work via the kit collection. It goes to show how things can develop from events.
25 for 25 Challenge
Many congratulations to Barrie N on completing his challenge of visiting 25 football grounds across Essex. Barrie also raised over £500 and gained an amazing amount of online publicity throughout the challenge. He also made a lot of new friends at each Club many of whom will continue to support us with end of season kit donations.
Congratulations also to Peter D on completing his swimming challenge and raising £300. I think the only other challenge that is ongoing is Karen A’s running challenge. and I will get an update for next month.
With all of the challenges combined we have now raised £2,200. Wouldn’t it be great to get this to £2,500 in the three months we have left for the 25th Anniversary year. Who is up for the challenge? Each person who has taken part will receive a beautiful glass shield from our good friends at Five Star Trophies.
Hatfield 5k Business Park Run
Once again KitAid was the chosen charity for this event and we received £900 from the race entry fees. This is all due to the hard work and support of Steve Thake and Michelle Plain from Affinity Water, who host the event and nominate KitAid to the event organisers. Many thanks to Steve and Michelle for your great support.
The end bit!
I always like to finish the monthly update on a high and here is another lovely story. There are many tasks which take place over the year to make KitAid such a success, and some inevitably go unnoticed. One example is how Jeff S drives from Potters Bar to Hatfield every fortnight to collect parcels which have been delivered to the Affinity Water office. He opens each package and where there is a letter or email address included, he then posts off a Thank You certificate to the kit donor. He received the following thank you
You’re most welcome [in respect of the donation], I’ll certainly endeavour to send some more kit down as and when I find it, and in the meantime would like to thank you and your KitAid colleagues for all your efforts and sterling work – knowing what ‘new’ kit meant to me and my children, I have no doubt your efforts help to put many smiles on many faces of grateful recipients worldwide.
Thank you Jeff, this is what makes KitAid so special to so many people.
Thanks to everyone for your tremendous support and I look forward to seeing some of you on Saturday morning at Hatfield.
Derrick
Hi all,
I hope you are all well and your optimism for the new season and your team continues beyond next month’s update!!
July has been an incredibly busy month in terms of organising things, but for once, the amount of kit dispatched has dropped, with less time available for visits to the containers. However, we are now so close to the finishing line in terms of reaching 1,000,000 donated items, the tape is just a hair’s breadth away! Here are the latest totals:
Items of kit donated in July 1.690
Items of kit donated in 2023 65,940
Items of kit donated since 1998 999,837
Items of kit needed to reach 1M 163
The champagne is on ice for Friday 8 September, and the celebration evening.
25th Anniversary Celebration
Tickets We have received some late cancellations which means we do have a few tickets available for anyone who would like to join the party. Please let me know if you would like to attend or increase the number of friends in your group and we will allocate them on a first come basis. I have handed out and posted as many tickets as possible and most of you should now have received them. If not, please drop me an email with your postal address.
Story Book The 25 year history of KitAid has been written, photos have been sourced and Carole (Parsons), our designer, now has the tricky task of getting it to fit within 20 pages and to make it look good. Thank you Carole, I am sure it will look great when it is given out to everyone on the night. There will also be copies for everyone who cannot attend as well as an online version.
Raffle/Auction Thank you to everyone who has donated a raffle/auction prize. We could still use some more, especially for the auction. Does anyone have access to tickets for either a sporting event, a show or a music event which they could let us have?
Joining Details I will send out an email closer to the date to cover all of the basic details such as parking, dress code, gate entry, taxis etc.
The music, guest speakers, running order have now all been booked and we are looking forward to having a party to celebrate 25 years of KitAid and the incredible 1,000,000 milestone.
25 for 25 Challenge
Many congratulations to Matt (Tutton) on completing his challenge of running 25 laps around the pitch at Hitchin Town FC before their friendly game against Watford FC Academy. It wasn’t an easy task and Matt completed the 8km run in under 45 minutes and well before kick off time! Thanks also to Ian (Dell) who ran with Matt for some of the time to keep him motivated.
If you would like to sponsor Matt, his Just Giving page is still open and it can be accessed via the stories about his run on our Twitter/FB and Instagram sites and here!
Thanks also to Karen. Peter and Barrie who are pressing on with their challenges.
To date all of the challenges have raised £1,400 and it would be great if we could get this to £2,500 by the end of the year. The challenge doesn’t have to be a physical one, it could be anything really, as long as it involves 25 of something.
Belfast/Airdrie visits
Self funded flying visits were made to Belfast and Airdrie a couple of weeks ago to the Ballysillan YFC Football Camp, which we sponsored, and to Diamonds in the Community in Airdrie.
The Ballysillan visit was more poignant this year as we were able to pay our respects to Grace, and to present a glass trophy in her memory to the team. 74 boys and girls attended the football camp and had a brilliant week, which they will remember for years to come. More importantly, they all now have access to the wonderful support the BYFC team gives all year round.
The visit to Diamonds in the Community was also inspiring as we were shown around their centre and were able to get a good insight into all of the different support activities they offer. As well as being the main collecting hub for Scotland for KitAid. We even managed to get to the Airdrie v Dundee match to see the Diamonds win.
There will be presentations by both charities at the 25th Anniversary celebration, and they will both be inspiring and moving.
E-banking
KitAid will soon be entering the 21st century as we move into the heady world of online banking!!
Many thanks to Sean (McGuigan) and to Mark (Smith) our past and present Treasurers for patiently sitting through long meetings with Santander, as we had to prove we weren’t international money launderers! Fortunately we passed all of the tests and will soon be able to file the cheque book away and pay people instantly.
Watford FC away shirt
Many thanks to the commercial team at Watford FC for setting up a scheme where fans can receive a 20% discount for a new away shirt if they donate an old WFC shirt to KitAid. The scheme was agreed without us applying or having any contact, which is a sign of how KitAid is respected by the Club.
Thank you to everyone reading this update and to all of our volunteers. We have achieved so much in the past 25 years and it would not have been possible without your support. This really shows in the 25 Year story book and I look forward to sharing it with everyone soon.
Many thanks
Derrick
I hope you are all well and enjoying the longer days.
June has been a very busy month with nearly 13,000 items of kit being handed over to partners for onward delivery. This has included 21 separate visits to the containers in Hemel Hempstead, a boxing up session at Hatfield and a big handover from Peter’s garage in Sale. As you can see, KitAid is close to becoming a full time charity.
Here are the latest totals
Items sent out in June – 12,915
Items sent out in 2023 – 64,250
Items sent out since 1998 – 998,147
Items required to reach 1 Million – 1,853
We are now within finger tip distance of reaching 1,000,000 donated items and I have a meeting next week with The FA to discuss how we can celebrate/recognise this milestone.
25th Anniversary Celebration
Dietary Requirements – Thanks to those who have replied to the email I sent out last week. Surprisingly we only have a very small number of requests for vegetarian/vegan buffet options. If you are still to reply and do require this option please reply to avoid confusion on the night.
Auction/Raffle prizes – We are still very short of raffle prizes and thanks to those who have donated so far. If you are able to get something to me in July/August it will avoid us having to buy prizes. If you are able to donate an “experience” type prize for the auction, such as tickets for an event (from September) it would also be really helpful.
25 Year history – I am about to lock myself away for a couple of months to write the 25 year history of KitAid, to hand out on the night of the Celebration event as a printed programme. I have started the research but the early years from 1998 to 2002 are a bit sketchy. If anyone has photos of a boxing up session at Bishops Rise, Hatfield, could you please send them to me. Or any history from the early years.
Facebook site
Unfortunately our FB site was “hacked” and some of you may have received a message purporting to be from KitAid. This is really frustrating and since then I have stopped posting anything to the site.
Interestingly, we have much more exposure on Twitter (@kitaid) and a recent post received 29k views compared to an average of 20 on FB,
Our Instagram site (KitAid Charity) is growing and I try to post a story every day.
Could I ask please that until the FB site is safe you either log on to the Twitter or instagram sites to see the latest pictures/stories.
25 for 25 Challenge
Congratulations to Barrie N on beating his fundraising target of £250 while he continues his challenge of visiting 25 football grounds across Essex.
The next big challenge to start is with Matt T who has arranged to run 25 laps of the pitch at Hitchin Town FC before their pre-season friendly match against Watford FC U21’s on Tuesday 25th July. It would be great if we could get a few KitAid supporters along to the match to cheer him on. Further details including a link to Matt’s Just Giving page will be sent out before the run and if you would like to watch him on the night, please let me know.
Good luck to Karen and Peter who are continuing with their running /swimming challenges.
There are still six months of the 25th Anniversary year left so if you are considering a challenge please let me know.
Sponsorship
Although our income is incredibly small, we do have a policy of sponsoring events that are close to our heart, whenever funds allow.
As you will know, we have sponsored the brilliant Football Camp in Ballysillan, Belfast for a number of years. We have done so again, with a donation of £1,000. It is even more poignant this year as very sadly, one of the Ballysillan YFC team recently passed. We have got to know Grace (Boyes) over recent years and she was a lovely, engaging, inspiring young person. Our donation is in her memory and myself and Steve A will be visiting Football Camp on Wednesday 19th July to pay KitAid’s respect to Grace.
We have also agreed to co-sponsor the Bulindi Chimpanzee Protection football tournament in Uganda again this year with a donation of £500. If funds allow and we make a healthy profit from the 25th Anniversary celebration, we may be able to increase this by a further £500.
Regional Co-ordinator – Accra, Ghana
The role has become global!! Welcome to Lydia A.
You may have seen some recent posts announcing Lydia as our very first Regional Co-ordinator in Africa. This is a new concept and I am keen to see how things work for Lydia. She expressed an interest in helping KitAid and we do have a lot of projects in Accra/Ghana. I am looking at ways we can use existing partners to get kit to her, but the first box arrived thanks to Fafali and she has been busy handing out kit to various teams in Accra.
If it works in Accra we can look into slowly expanding the role across other countries where we have a stronger presence.
HELP!
I have left this request until the end as I always wonder if readers get this far on the monthly update! Only joking!!
If you are attending the 25th Anniversary Celebration in September there are a number of tasks that I need help with, either prior to or on the night itself. I would like to form a small team to share the jobs around. We can hold some Teams/Zoom meetings over the next few weeks to discuss ideas and progress.
I do need help as in previous years we have had more people involved in organising the 10th,15th and 20th Celebrations and I honestly have too many things flying around in my brain!! Please let me know if you can help.
I think these are the main things for June and as ever, thanks to everyone for your work behind the scenes and it won’t be too long before we can all raise a glass to reaching I Million items of donated kit.
Thanks
Derrick
May was another busy month and we are now even closer to the milestone millionth item of donated kit.
Total items sent out in May = 7,910
Total items sent out in 2023 = 51,125
Total items sent out since 1998 = 985,022
Required items to reach 1 Million = 14,978
It is looking likely that we will reach the 1 Millionth item in early August and plans are currently afoot on how to recognise this amazing achievement.
Boxing Up – Hatfield, 17 June
Unfortunately this seems to be the weekend that everyone has decided to go away as so far we only have 13 helpers, which isn’t really enough.
If you received the invitation but are still to reply, could you please let me know if you can or cannot make it.
If you didn’t receive the invitation but are able to join us in Hatfield I would really appreciate it. If we can find seven more helpers it would make things a lot easier and we need to clear the storeroom at Hatfield.
25 for 25 Challenge
A massive well done and thanks to Antonia, our Bristol Regional Co-ordinator, on completing her challenge and also raising an amazing £610 for KitAid. Antonia ran 2.5 km for 25 consecutive days and incredibly ran each session in 25 minutes.
Karen, one of our long term volunteers has also started her challenge and ran her first of 25 sessions in Amsterdam! I suspect the remaining runs will be a bit more hilly!
Peter D, another long term volunteer, has also started and he added to the International theme by swimming in the warmer waters in sunny Spain.
Barrie N has continued his challenge of visiting 25 different grounds across Essex and he is getting some great publicity, he had a full page article in the May issue of the non league “Grassroots Magazine”
The “25 for 25” Challenge will run throughout this year, so if you want to sign up and create your own challenge, which doesnt have to be a physical one, please let me know.
25th Anniversary Celebration
Since the last update all 120 tickets have been allocated and thanks to Ian we have found a really good singer to serenade us. The Audio Visual issue has also been resolved.
I am planning on meeting up with the venue rep soon and I will then email everyone to gather any dietary requirements,
Auction and Raffle prizes
We need to hold both of these to meet the venue costs and any help in donating prizes would be really good.
For the Auction we are in need of some “experience” type prizes, such as tickets for a match/show etc
For the raffle, the usual type bottle or voucher type of prize.
Please let me know if you can help.
National Volunteers Week
This week is the official week to celebrate all of our volunteers and on behalf of the KitAid Trustees, I would like to thank all of you for the fantastic support you give to our wonderful charity. Without your support we would not exist and nearly One Million people would be less well supported. THANK YOU.
The following message from the Norton Times in Harare captures your efforts wonderfully
“Hear it from me. I am in Norton, Zimbabwe. Keep up the good work. You are not serving soccer. You are saving it!”
Hope to see some of you in June.
Take care
Derrick
April was another busy month with kit donations to 10 different countries across Africa, Here are the new totals,
Total number of items donated in April – 6,080
Total number of items donated in 2023 – 43,215
Total number of items donated since 1998 – 977,112
Total number of items still to donate to reach 1M – 22,888
As you can see, we are now into the final quarter and I am confident we will reach 1 Million by the start of the new season.
25th Anniversary Celebration
Thank you to everyone who has bought a ticket and I am delighted to report that the initial 100 seats have now completely sold out.
We have agreed with the venue to increase the attendance to 120 and we now only have 7 tickets left. If you want to attend please let me know by return. It promises to be a memorable evening.
We do need some help though in the following areas
Auction prizes
Thank you to Ian D who responded to last month’s request by donating a “four ball” golf day at his club in Royston. We still need some more prizes though and particularly the “experience” type of event. Do you know anyone who works in events who might donate a prize?
Music entertainment
Unfortunately we have lost our previous opera singer as she is away on 8 September. We have tried another couple of options but they are both performing on the night. We are looking for a single entertainer, not a group, who ideally has limited equipment and a realistic performing fee! If you know of anyone suitable please let me know.
25for25 Challenge
Congratulations and many thanks to Ben Wildman who has completed his challenge of swimming 25 lengths on 25 consecutive days in April. Ben also beat his target and has raised £300 in sponsorship.
Barrie Neal is making great progress in his challenge of visiting 25 grounds across Essex and he has set up a special twitter site with posts at each ground visited. See Twitter @Trip2023E and his JustGiving page at justgiving.com/page/roadtrip-...
I am aware that some others are in the process of arranging challenges and please let me know how you are getting on so we can report back on your progress. If you need the guide to setting up your JustGiving site please let me know.
Afi the Golfer
You will recall from last month’s update that Afi was due to play in a tournament in the USA after finally getting her visa. Fafali pulled out all of the stops and somehow raised the sponsorship needed for her and an accompanying adult to travel to Houston.
Bearing in mind the travelling distance from Accra, jetlag, excitement and nerves, not surprisingly she wasn’t at her best form during the tournament and the event organisers commented on her equipment being inferior to other competitors.
However, it looks likely that Afi will be offered a golf scholarship once she is old enough and the event organisers are now planning on visiting Fafali in Accra with a view to sponsoring a golf academy to give more children an opportunity to play.
Well done Fafali and very well done Afi, an inspirational story that will hopefully give opportunities to more children in Ghana.
Regional volunteers
Our regional volunteers all do a fantastic job in collecting kit, storing it all as well as promoting KitAid in their areas. We are really fortunate to have so many volunteers all across the UK doing their bit.
In April three of the volunteers hired vans and drove hundreds of miles to drop the kit off at our storage containers in Hemel Hempstead. More handed over kit to charities in their area who would otherwise have had to travel to Hertfordshire.
The regional volunteer role is key to the success of KitAid and it is a role that could go unnoticed. A very big thank you to all of our regional volunteers, your support is greatly appreciated.
Charity feedback
I thought I would share the following feedback from Fr Jude Lawsamba in Cameroon, which captures the spirit of KitAid
“Words are inadequate to express how grateful I am for the kit donation from your charity to us. This donation will go a long way to help our children back home who have a dream of playing football”
We also appeared in the Reading Today newspaper who started the article describing us as a “World renowned charity”
And to think it all began 25 years ago with a single box of shirts……………
Thanks everyone for your support
Derrick
Football has the power to drive positive social change, as KitAid has demonstrated through their mission of providing football kits and equipment to underprivileged communities around the world.
Family F.C. is the new app that is revolutionising the way parents play football with their kids. Developed by professional players from the Premier League and PE teachers, Family F.C.’s mission is to get children out of the house and into the great outdoors to develop new football skills, get fit and have fun with their families. Whether your child is a complete beginner or a seasoned pro, the interactive programmes help them learn and develop new skills whilst having fun with you along the way.
Now, KitAid has partnered with Family F.C. who share these values, and Family F.C. has pledged to donate a percentage of their profits to KitAid.
KitAid and Family F.C. will be supporting each other across their social media channels, so look out for them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube and share their posts with your friends and family.
I would like to welcome Shelagh from Sheffield and George from Basingstoke who have recently joined the team as Regional Volunteers for their areas. Welcome to Team KitAid.
March has been another busy month and here are the key highlights.
Totals
12,635 items sent out in March
37,135 items sent out in 2023
971,032 items sent out since 1998
28,968 items to go until we reach 1,000,000 items donated!! I predict we will reach the magic milestone at some point in June.
25th Anniversary Celebration
Friday 8th September, Watford FC -Ticket price £30
As expected for the hottest tickets in town, within just a couple of weeks of going on sale, we have almost reached our maximum sales figure of 100 tickets. There are still some available so please reply quickly if you wish to attend. Thanks to everyone who has already paid and next month we will send out further details and gather dietary requirements etc.
The evening is taking shape with a special band booked and some entertaining speakers, a nostalgic look back at the previous 25 year highlights and a lovely KitAid evening for all.
Auction prizes
We have started to gather some great auction items but need help in finding some more. Especially event/experience type prizes such as match day tickets or attendance at a special event. If you know of anyone who can help with this please contact them and share our wonderful 25 year successes.
25 for 25 Challenge
Many congratulations to Barrie N, our Regional Volunteer for Chelmsford, who has reached his fundraising target of £250 already. Barrie set himself a challenge of visiting 25 football grounds across Essex and although he has not yet finished, he has made some great contacts from Clubs he has met. He told the Secretary of Runwell Sports FC about his challenge and they very generously donated £200 and also agreed to put a KitAid banner on display.
Well done Barrie and good luck to Ben W who will be starting his swimming challenge in April. If you haven’t yet signed up for a challenge and would like details please let me know.
Liverpool FC Foundation
We would like to offer our thanks to the LFC Foundation team for their very generous support last Saturday at their Legends fundraising game.
We have a long standing relationship with the Foundation and they have donated a lot of kit over many years. In recognition of our 25th Anniversary year they very kindly presented a special “KitAid 25” shirt pitchside at half time. It was somewhat overwhelming walking out of the tunnel, under the famous LFC logo, in front of 50,000 supporters, but an incredible experience.
Thanks to Trustee Janet N, for arranging everything with the team at LFC Foundation.
KitAid Supporters Cup
You may remember that we were unable to present the Cup last November as the match between Leverstock Green and Aylesbury Vale Dynamoes ended in a 2-2 draw following a 93rd minute equaliser! Our friends at LG went on to win the away leg 4-2, but we were unable to attend on the night.
The plan is to present the Cup at their home game tomorrow (1st April), but I have a feeling this may be scuppered by the constant rain today and over the last few days. We have already had to get the engraving changed from 2022 to 2023 so fingers crossed they get their hands on the Cup this week, month, year!!
Boots
Football boots are highly sought after at all of the projects we support and as much as possible, we share those that we receive to the different projects. We have recently started to work more closely with the charity, Charity Boots, from North London, and they were offered a substantial donation of 2,000 pairs of brand new boots. We have taken delivery and are helping them with temporary storage and they have donated 1,000 pairs to KitAid.
We have already passed on half of the total to partners such as FOMO Malawi and the rest will go quickly. This is a great example of small charities working together and we have always supported sharing of opportunities, contacts and knowledge as much as possible.
Social Media
I am sure you are aware that we post almost every day on Twitter, Instagram and FB and we have nearly 4,000 followers on Twitter. However, with the imminent changes by Mr M, Twitter will become much less user friendly and not as easy to see our posts. We are certainly not going to pay for a blue tick!!
Can I suggest that you start to follow KitAidCharity on Instagram so you do not miss out on the wonderful photos and film clips we receive from the projects we support.
Well I think these are the main highlights for March and please, if you do wish to attend the 25th Anniversary Celebration on 8th September, let me know by return.
Many thanks for your help and support.
Derrick
February was another really busy month with 13,790 items of kit leaving the containers. This increases our totals to
24,500 items sent out in 2023
958,397 items sent since 1998
41,603 items still to go before we reach 1,000,000 items!
My prediction is we will reach the magic million sometime in July.
25th Anniversary Celebration
Really pleased to let everyone know the venue is now booked, the deposit paid and sponsors have been found.
- Venue – The View, Vicarage Road Stadium, Watford FC
- Sponsors – Salford Van Hire/Family FC
- Date – Friday 8 September, 2023
- Ticket Price – £30
- Included – Finger Buffet plus refreshments, Speeches, Music, Auction, Raffle and 25 years of celebration!!!
A proper invitation email will be sent out to everyone shortly, once the poster is designed, but please keep this date free in your diary. We are limited to 100 seats, although less once sponsor and special guest tickets are included, so please let us know quickly once you receive the invitation email.
“25for25 Challenge”
So far we have had 5 people express their interest in taking part in a challenge. Many thanks to Matt T, Alka M, Ben W, Peter D, and Delwyth P.
To recap, the Challenge is of your choice, it doesn’t have to be physical, it just needs to include 25 of something. So abstaining from alcohol/chocolate/pizza/online shopping for 25 days is perfectly acceptable. Or you could spread it out and say attend 25 matches or grounds between March and December. Or you could donate 25 different club shirts or if you don’t fancy a challenge, simply donate £25!!
We have created a special Just Giving page which you can link your individual event to. Matt T has produced an easy to follow guide, which we can send once you have chosen your challenge.
From a KitAid financial perspective, this is becoming quite important as this month we have dropped to an available balance of £7,000. We are spending more on storage and courier collections and to an extent have become victims of our own success. We do not receive any grants or regular funding, and although we have enough currently to see us through this year, without any additional funding, it will all go.
Please support this Challenge if you are able to or share it with your friends.
Do Not Scratch Your Eyes !
If you are a Watford fan you will already be aware of a podcast with the above name, which is taken from the live commentary when Troy Deeney scored an iconic goal in a Play Off Semi Final.
The podcast is very popular and I gave an interview a few months ago. They have recently launched a Patreon site and have collaborated with the Club to produce merchandise T-shirts. Half of the profit will be donated to KitAid and the other half to the Peace Hospice, as Graham Taylor was Patron of both charities. This is really generous and it is also giving KitAid more exposure.
Netball kit collection
We are delighted to have collected over 20 boxes of fantastic netball kits, trainers and balls for the girls in Malawi. They have been playing in t-shirts or football kits for a long time and it is great that they will be able to play in proper kits.
Very many thanks to Sally Whittle from England Netball and to all of the teams in the Hertfordshire League who generously donated so much kit over three separate weekends. Thanks also to Mark S who helped me at the events.
Grassroots Magazine – Essex
Following a large kit donation from Wilvale Rangers, a grassroots club in Essex, Barrie N the Regional Volunteer for Chelmsford, wrote a press release for the club. They sent it on to the Grassroots Magazine who have now offered a regular KitAid advert and online support.
It might be worth looking online to see if any other County Grassroots publications exist in your area if you are a Regional Coordinator.
Boxing Up – Hatfield, 18th March
Thanks to all of those who replied to the “Please Reply” email sent out a few weeks ago. If you are still to reply and wish to attend the boxing up session, could you let me know please. Mary and Keith from FOMO Malawi will also be attending which will be lovely and a great opportunity to find out more about the work we have supported for many years.
Nick Perchard
We would like to offer our thanks to Nick who has been a Trustee for 9 years and a supporter of KitAid from his time as CEO of Hertfordshire FA. Nick has an incredibly busy job at the Premier League which takes him to the Community Trusts of every Club. Nick has decided to step down as a Trustee mainly due to work commitments and we are very grateful for his input and advice over recent years.
Well I think these are the main events for a busy month other than to thank you all for your continued support.
Please look out for the 25th Anniversary Celebration invitation and send in your ticket request straight away.
Many thanks
Derrick
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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