One of our friends at Gartner is involved with the charity "Kits 4 Kids", which is collecting football shirts to give to vulnerable children in South Africa, and asked whether we had any footie shirts left over from our sponsorship of Reading FC. As luck would have it , the lovely Emma Pierce up at the club could lay her hands on 200 of them, and today I took part in a photoshoot with the Chairman (Sir John Madejski) and Royals midfielder Brian Howard to mark the donation of those shirts to Kits 4 Kids. It was freezing on the pitch, so huge thanks to Sir John and Brian for taking part, and to the intrepid photographer from the Reading Post who had already spent two hours in sub-zero temperatures waiting for a crown court judgement to be delivered.
Here's the full story:
Kyocera and Reading Football Club donate 200 shirts to Kits for Kids
Shirts will be given to vulnerable children in South Africa
Monday, 29th November 2010; Reading, UK: Kyocera Mita and Reading Football Club are pleased to announce the donation of 200 KYOCERA-branded football shirts to the charity “Kits for Kids”. The shirts, which are left over from Kyocera’s sponsorship of the club, will be shipped to the Katha Day Centre in Katlahong, Johannesburg, South Africa. Katha supports orphans and vulnerable children in the Township with day care for the pre-school children, after school care for the older ones and practical help for their carers.
Kits for Kids recognises the popularity of football with South African children, particularly in the light of this year’s World Cup tournament, and wants to bring some football-related Christmas cheer to underprivileged children. The organisation has been collecting shirts from around the country to send out to Johannesburg.
Jessica Bishop of Kits for Kids explains further: “Football is tremendously popular in South Africa, and in particular among the children in the Townships. They are keen followers of UK football too. On Fridays children are permitted to wear football shirts to school, and indeed this practice even extended to the workplace during the World Cup in June!”
Tracey Rawling Church, Director of Brand and Reputation at Kyocera Mita (UK) Ltd said: “We’re delighted that the shirts are going to a deserving home. Kyocera’s sponsorship of Reading FC was one of the most enjoyable and valuable things we’ve ever done, so it’s nice to see the spirit of the relationship continue with this donation.”
Royals midfielder Brian Howard added: “From what I saw, young people in South Africa really got behind football and all caught World Cup fever in the summer. So it’s great that we can play our part in helping the sport to develop over there by sending these shirts. Hopefully it will inspire them to kick a ball about themselves and enjoy playing football.”
Kits for Kids is inviting donations of new or used football shirts in sizes child’s age 2 up to adult XL, anybody who is interested in donating their own shirts or collecting at their office, school, church or club can find more details at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Kits-for-Kids/120253084700023
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