Merry Christmas

2014 was another record breaking year as we packed 1,201 boxes and sent out 42,035 items of kit

We passed the quarter of a million milestone and have now sent out 262,035 items of kit since 1998

We made 4 small grants of £1,000 each for project work in Uganda and Lesotho

We sponsored the fantastic Ballysillan (Belfast) footy camp project once again.

We partnered with Airdrieonians Supporters Club Trust for a novel project which collected 4k items of kit.

We continued to receive kit from Barry Lenton at Marine FC who has now collected 11k+ items.

We strengthened our charity partnerships with Hertfordshire FA, Evo-stik Northern Premier league and the Spartan South Midland League

We continued to receive support from University of Herts and Middlesex University.

We received kit from many professional, semi professional and grass roots teams from all over the UK.

We increased the number of Ambassador Clubs to 7 (adding Stegota FC and Airdrieonians FC) and set up a new club twinning partnership.

We would like to thank our Patron, Graham Taylor OBE and all of our volunteers who have helped to make 2014 another record breaking year.

“There’s only one Graham Taylor”

Derrick Williams, was honoured to represent KitAid as a guest of Graham Taylor at Vicarage Road, on Saturday.

Watford FC made the decision to name one of the stands after Graham in recognition of the fantastic achievements during his reign as both manager and Chairman.  This was greeted by a massive chorus from all four stands of “there’s only one Graham Taylor” when he stepped on to the pitch surrounded by former players to officially rename the stand.

Derrick said he felt honoured and proud to see the Patron of KitAid receive the recognition from the club and the fans.  We are very fortunate to have Graham as our Patron and he is a true gentleman and a legend.

 

 

 

250'000 Celebration

At KitAid's most recent boxing up session we hit an unbelievable milestone of 250'000 items of kit sent around the world.  In order to celebrate this amazing achievement we filmed what a typical boxing up session looks like and a few words from charities and volunteers that make KitAid such a success. 

Please see the link below to access this video.

http://youtu.be/R7EHMAvjPyw

Record Breaking Boxing Up

Saturday 15 November 2014 will be remembered by KitAid for many years to come as it was the official boxing up session where we passed the major milestone of donating 250,000 items of kit since 1998. 

The boxing up team stopped to recognise this amazing figure with a specially made footy shirt cake and the session was also filmed for a You Tube story board. On the day we also sent out a new record of 142 boxes of kit and this has bought the total number of boxes for 2014 to a new record figure of 1,048.  The previous highest figure for a single year was 963 in 2010 and we still have a month to go!

Many thanks to everyone who supports us at boxing up sessions and to those who donate kit, we couldn’t do it without you.

 

Airdrieonians FC

KitAid would like to say a massive thank you to the club and the Supporters Trust for the fantastic achievement of collecting 4,000 items of kit as part of their brilliant season ticket campaign.

On Saturday 8 November a group of KitAid Trustees and supporters visited the club for their 6 pointer game against Stenhousemuir.  Derrick Williams gave a thank you speech to a packed audience and was able to present certificates to a number of the people who had played a leading role in the kit collection. Special thanks were given to Dougy Allsop who spearheaded the whole campaign and rallied the club and the town to get behind it so well.

Also on the day, Airdrieonians FC were officially recognised as the 7^th KitAid Ambassador Club to recognise their fantastic support.  We look forward to a long partnership with the club and their supporters.

 

 

Bright Stars Girls Soccer Academy

At KitAid we love to see where donated kit ends up, we recently received photos of the Bright Stars Girls Soccer Academy in Harare, Zimbabwe.  Please see photos below of the team before an important match wearing kit donated by Arsenal ladies.  They're a very successful team and have won their league the past 3 seasons, we wish them all the best for their forthcoming fixtures.

FC United Of Manchester kit collection

Thank you to FC United of Manchester and their fans for their great support on Saturday.  We collected a van load of kit, including donations from Grantham Town and Stalybridge Celtic.  Many thanks to the fans and players who donated so much kit which will soon be on its way to Africa.

Good luck for the rest of the season and many congratulations on your new home in Moston which we look forward to visiting next season.

 

 

  

 

Airdrieonians FC

Congratulations to the AFC supporters trust for collecting an amazing 4000 items of kit.  We really appreciate such a large amount of kit collected within such a short space of time and we look forward to coming up and meeting everyone on the 8th November.  Please see the photos below for all the kit collected.

FC United Of Manchester

Many thanks to FC United Of Manchester for holding a kit amnesty day for us.  We look forward to attending the game on September 20th at Stalybridge Celtic.  Good luck for the rest of the season and we hope you gain promotion.

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 the short video below to see how this kit was greatly received.

http://youtu.be/83mew6G3HH0

Sir Tom Finney memorial shirts

We were very honoured to be chosen by Preston North End and Sir Tom’s family to receive all of the shirts which were left at Deepdale in his memory. The club arranged for all of the shirts to be laundered and they are due to be collected soon, in time for our next sorting and boxing session on 27 September.  It is a fitting tribute that Sir Tom’s shirts will bring joy to so many people who love the beautiful game.  

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 Carrignton.  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.

 

 

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.

 

 

KitAid Annual Review

The KitAid annual review 2013/2014 is now here, check out all the great stuff we have been doing over the past 12 months.

Click on the following link to access the review.

http://kitaid.net/images/kitaid-annual-review-2014-%20web.pdf

New partnership with Kitlocker.com

We are really pleased to announce a new partnership with Kitlocker.com from Sheffield.

We have received surplus kit from Kitlocker.com over recent years and they are one of the UK’s leading kit suppliers to Universities.  Please take a look at their web site, www.kitlocker.com as they may well be able to meet any kit requirements you might have.

Look out for future photos of Kitlocker.com kit appearing across Africa.

 

 

 

Jordan Nobbs, Arsenal & England ladies

Top ladies football player Jordan Nobbs got stuck in and helped out at KitAid’s latest boxing-up session this weekend. Jordan, who plays for Arsenal and England Ladies teams, was invited to join the team of volunteers by Herts FA and was really impressed with KitAid and the work the charity is doing. She even tweeted about it afterwards and the Twitter feed went mad with the news being retweeted in Japan, USA and Germany!

On Saturday 3,500 items of kit, including 20 pairs of Tottenham Hotspurs Kyle Walker’s brand new footie boots and kit from Manchester United  were packed into 109 boxes to be sent out to Sudan, Gambia, Uganda, Zambia and Kenya.

KitAid founder Derrick Williams said: “It was great to have Jordan along for the morning. She’s helped raise the KitAid profile by tweeting about the event, and she’s spreading the word to get the rest of the Arsenal Ladies team involved. It’s good that a local international famous team are helping out, and they’re keen to donate more training kit to us in the future. Jordan also liked the fact that KitAid supports girls football across Africa.”

Arsenal’s training ground is just down the road at London Colney, and the team play at Borehamwood and have an academy at the University of Hertfordshire.

The boxing-up session took place on Saturday 21 June 2014.

 

 

KitAid Kampala Cup

If you thought the World cup was important, think again!  On June 14th 2014, on a sun soaked pitch in Kampala, two teams from two different leagues, will go into a long awaited 90 minute battle to compete for an all important KitAid donated cup.

This eagerly anticipated game will see Najjanankumbi Marine take on Stegota FC.  It is the first time the two teams have played against each other and fans from both clubs are getting ready for this glorious 90 minutes that will go down in history.

For Stegota manager Edwin Nshuti this dream fixture comes at the end of an incredible season which has seen his club narrowly miss promotion to the FUFA big league.

Silverware for Stegota will help satisfy the loyal fans who turn out to cheer on their cherished club.  But Najjanankumbi are determined that they will be going home with the cup and keeping their supporters smiling.

Whatever the result, when the final whistle blows, it is hoped this glorious game will become an annual fixture in the Kampala and KitAid calendar.

Wear your shirt to work Day – Friday 13 June 2014

We would like to thank Julian Chenery from AIG who is organising a “Wear your shirt to Work” day on behalf of KitAid.

Julian works for AIG and he has also signed up a number of other companies to join in.  Thank you also to Affinity Water, Exeter Family Friendly, Premier Sports and Leisure and R&S Carpets and Beds.  If you can persuade your company to join in they will be very welcome.

Each participating company will be allowing their staff to turn up to work in their favourite shirt with the aim of collecting kit on the day.  It has been timed to coincide with the World Cup and it will be held on Friday 13 June, the day before the vital England v Italy game.

 

New KitAid website

After plenty of planning and designing the new KitAid website went live this week.  A massive thanks to Laura Davis and Switch who have done a fantastic job in creating the new website.

Please check it out at www.kitaid.net and let us know what you think!

Evo-stik NPL and Ryman Leagues get ready for Easter Kit Amnesty

We are looking forward to a bumper kit collection from over 100 non league teams all across the North and South of England this coming Easter weekend.

This will be the third Easter amnesty held by the Evo-stik NPL and each year more and more teams come on board.  We are really pleased to welcome the Ryman League for the first time, especially as a lot of the clubs are close to home, which  will make collection a bit easier.

Many thanks to Dave Watters who is the press officer for both leagues and Dave has also promoted the collection on the BBC Radio 5 Non League show.

We are hoping for a big response this year and will follow up an update after Easter.

 

 

 

From Watford to Wamba

We have recently received these great pictures showing Watford FC kit in Wamba, northern Kenya.

The kit was taken out by Clare Muir from the Swan Youth Centre in Berkhamsted along with a group of students from Ashlyn’s School. Kit was also handed out to some girls school teams as well as three other schools.  A game was arranged between Man Utd and Watford (Ashlyn’s students) and not surprisingly the reds won.  Watford blamed the pitch and the heat!!

Well done to all and we look forward to supporting Clare again later this year.

 

Conquer a fear of heights!

Fancy a challenge or consider yourself a dare devil, we have two tickets available at £85 to abseil the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth on the 25th May at 13:00. 

If you would be interested in this and would like to raise money for KitAid whilst taking on this challenge please contact Ian Hankin at Ian.Hankin@affinitywater.co.uk.

For more information on the abseil please visit http://www.spinnakertower.co.uk/whats-on/Abseiling.aspx 

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