BOURNEMOUTH Poppies, Dorchester, Wimborne Town, Ringwood are just a few clubs that have got involved with KitAid, the charity that recycles football kit and distributes it to underprivileged people across the world.
Kits from Bournemouth Poppies, Dorchester and Wimborne have recently ended up in Sierra Leone, to be given to the local children so that the kits can be reused and loved again.
The Bournemouth ambassador Kevin Ryder told the Daily Echo that every couple of months the kit is gathered and sorted and sent off the charity reps from the different countries around the world.
Junior and adult kits, individual pieces like tops or shorts, football boots and more are gathered to give to those in need.
He said that the kit is then given to different villages where they can create leagues using the kit that they otherwise wouldn’t have the ability to do and football boots provide protection as often the children play barefoot.
Ryder said: “Believe it or not we go all the from the FA down through the England Team, The Lionesses, pro clubs like Everton, Nottingham Forest, Brighton.
“Watford give us an enormous amount because they were the first club involved as it all started in Hertfordshire.”
“From pro clubs it drops down to locals, Wimborne, Ringwood, Bournemouth Poppies, Pub sides, Juniors youth kits, it goes on and on.”
KitAid started in back 1998 and has helped donate over a million pieces of kit to 55 countries across the world.
The charity was set up by Derrick Williams, who saw a young boy wearing a tattered Liverpool shirt while visiting Tanzania and knew that he wanted to make a change.
Now 26 years on, football teams all across the country clubs are coming together to support those in need.
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