Stegota FC, Kampala – latest KitAid Ambassador Club

Congratulations to Stegota FC on becoming the latest Ambassador Club for KitAid.

We have worked with Edwin Nshuti, Chairman of the club, for a number of years and we have built up a solid relationship through visits to Kampala.  You may recall the fantastic story of how we were first approached for kit and we sent some XXL Stoke City shirts which had the “Britannia BS” logo on the front.  Edwin then found a company in the city called “Britania” and pointed out that they were advertising for them!! As a result they received a large consignment of biscuits which they sold at games to their supporters.  Since then they have moved on considerably as a club and hopefully will soon be playing in the FUFA Big league as a full time team.

Thomas Eddie Enright and a group from Affinity Water recently visited Stegota where they presented Edwin with a framed Ambassador Club certificate and a pair of football boots donated by Graham Taylor.  They also took out boots and kit which will  be shared with other local teams over the coming months.

Well done Stegota and welcome to the elite KitAid Ambassador Club.

From the Trent to Tanzania

One of our most unusual sources of footballs is from our friend Terry Oliver who is a very keen kayaker.  Terry regularly finds balls floating on the river Trent that have probably caused the owner much distress when they see their prized football floating away from them.

Little do they know that Terry carefully scoops them up, takes them home, washes them in detergent and then passes them on to us once he has a bumper bundle.  We then find a new home for them thousands of miles away and they have a new life on a dusty parched field in Africa.

Well done Terry – this is one of our favourite stories and if only the kids who lose their balls knew they were giving happiness to another child on a different continent we are sure they would be pleased.

 

 

KitAid Boxing Up

If you have ever wondered how a boxing up session works, or how we transport so much kit across the world, then take a look at our fantastic new film clip.

 

We would like to  thank Middlesex University for their help in making the film and we are sure you will agree, it is a great job.  It was filmed at a recent boxing up session when we had a number of different charities collecting kit, and they have all explained what it means to them and the kit recipients.

Our boxing up sessions are amazing, as in less than 3 hours we often sort and pack between 3 – 4,000 individual items of kit.  They run like clockwork and even people who are attending for the first time are off and running really quickly.  They are also good fun and a great way of meeting some very interesting people.  If you would like to come along then drop us an email at kitaid@affinitywater.co.uk and we will let you know the date, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxfBEnUMCPE&feature=c4-overview&list=UUck9YaJXs8ntRJDFHmRMNbg

Happy Christmas from KitAid

Happy Christmas from all at KitAid,  below is a list of some of our 2013 highlights!

25,400 items of kit sent all across the World in 2013 (at no expense to KitAid)

725 footballs, sets of goalposts, goal nets and 1,000+ Match Attax cards also delivered

We have now sent out 220,000 items of kit since KitAd was set up in 1998

We celebrated our 15^th Anniversary in style with 200 supporters and Graham Taylor OBE

We were featured on Sky Sports News in August and also interviewed on BBC Radio 5 Live

We featured in many different newspapers across the UK as well as some African media

We sponsored the brilliant Ballysillan YFC football camp again as well as projects in Lesotho, Uganda and the Gambia

We were the chosen charity partner for the Hertfordshire FA, Evo-stik Northern Premier League and Spartan South Midlands League

We have strengthened our relationship with the University of Herts and Middlesex University

We have continued to receive fantastic support from PUMA and other manufacturers such as Great Branding

We would like to thank our Patron Graham Taylor OBE and all of the clubs from the entire football pyramid who have donated so much kit in 2013.

Happy Christmas from the KitAid team

FC Cornerstone visit Zimbabwe

FC Cornerstone recently visited Zimbabwe and whilst they were on their trip they donated a number of kits to various different destinations.  The majority of the kit was donated to the Kadoma Youth football academy as well as 2 schools in the township of Rimuka.

The kit in demand was that of Liverpool FC, these were shared between the Tariro childrens home  and the Moses Chunga academy.  Whilst the kit of FC United of Manchester found a new home with the Moses Chunga academy as well.  A home was even found for a signed Norway ladies international shirt for a female football enthusiast.  Below is some pictures of the trip and the happy new owners of some top class kit.

Charlie's gift

Good luck to Jason Fidler who will tomorrow and Friday be taking on the challenging task of cycling from Hemel Hempstead to Birmingham.

All proceeds from this goes to a brilliant charity Charlie's gift, if you would like to sponsor Jason please see the following link.

https://mydonate.bt.com/events/charliesheroes/107730 

Good luck from everyone at KitAid Jason in braving the arctic conditions and look forward to hearing all about it once completed.

New KitAid Drop Boxes

We are very grateful to Simon Wheeler from Stylographics in Watford, for designing and producing our very first KitAid drop box.

Simon heard about our work and decided to offer his help, which we are extremely grateful for.  We have always struggled to provide professional looking collection boxes and these are fantastic.  We collected the very first box yesterday and look forward to receiving a few more over the coming weeks.

Stylographics have done us proud and we recommend them for all of your business needs!!!