Our finisher t-shirts are now football kits in the Gambia!

With all the running events we host each season, it’s no surprise that we often end up with boxes of spare finisher t-shirts gathering dust in our storage. We weren’t sure what to do with them, but thanks to the help of KitAid, we are pleased to announce that our unused t-shirts are now being used as football kits in the Gambia.

KitAid is a charity started by Derrick Williams MBE, who visited Tanzania on a WaterAid supporters’ trip in 1998. He would often wear football kits representing his favourite teams, and was surprised by how enthusiastic the Tanzanians were about his shirts.

KitAid’s website explains “After two weeks in Tanzania, a flame was lit in Derrick’s heart and he was on a mission to provide kit and equipment to the bare-footed children playing with footballs made of tied string and plastic bags. Twenty one years on, KitAid has lots of volunteers and to date we’ve sent out 800,000+ kits to children and adults in 55 different countries across the world.”

We donated many of our old shirts, and KitAid sent them off to the Gambia. Some of our t-shirts are also being sent to Luther Blissett, ex-football player for Watford and England, who is supporting Ukrainian people stuck in Poland.

We were thrilled to receive some photos of Gambians wearing our shirts. Our Head of Event Operations, Samantha Kennedy, says, “It’s really great to see that these are being put to good use and helping those that need it.”