On Friday 13th June Mark Smith, Treasurer and Trustee for the charity, KitAid, collected 25 bags of donated sports clothing and footwear to support young people in developing countries around the world. His destination for the delivery is a warehouse in Hatfield where the kit is being stored overnight until the arrival of around 30 volunteers on Saturday who will be sorting and boxing the items from Leighton Park and from other donors prior to the collection of around 300 boxes by six different charities. Donations come from schools as well as from grassroots football clubs and some professional clubs too such as Manchester, Arsenal and Watford.
“It’s all run by volunteers; it’s a simple model but it really works. Some charities want youth kit, some want adults, some want a mixture. Footwear is like gold dust so we try to distribute that evenly between all the charities. The charities who benefit send it to developing countries, mostly in Africa but other places too. The kit from Leighton Park will start its journey tomorrow as it just so happens we’ve got the boxing session tomorrow!”
The collection was co-ordinated by Sharon Deller, House Manager of Reckitt House. Sharon has been supporting KitAid for several years and has her sights set on collecting netball dresses from local clubs for the next KitAid pick up! “It’s important because as a school with a Quaker ethos and values we support the local community with charities but for those countries that are in need and have underprivileged communities within their nations, I think it’s very important that we support them as well.”
Alizia (Year 11) who helped load the car up with the donations reflected, “It’s important to help people in need who don’t have the resources we do in more privileged countries.”
KitAid facilitates these vital supplies being sent overseas to places where they will make a huge difference to underprivileged children in need of sports clothes. The charity was set up by Derrick Williams MBE, who visited Tanzania on a WaterAid supporters’ trip in 1998. Derrick who was a committed football fan, following Watford, Chesham United and Liverpool, was amazed at the reception he received in remote villages just because he was wearing one of his favourite football shirts. He returned from Tanzania determined to provide kit and equipment to the bare-footed children playing with footballs made of tied string and plastic bags. To date, the charity have sent out 1,000,000+ kits to children and adults in 55 different countries across the world.
We hope that the soon to be new owners of the school sports kit, make as many happy memories wearing the Leighton Park kit as have our own students!
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