Witney Vikings Youth Football Club have recently learned of the impact their charitable donation of kit has had on schools in Kenya, following a remarkable appeal which saw nearly £2,000 worth of football kit sent across to Africa.

Donated to the African Children’s Fund, the charity last week contacted Witney Vikings with a photo of a small number of people that are now making valuable use of the kit, enjoying equipment they would not otherwise have been able to acquire.

Over the years, Witney Vikings have supported various charities, but as Chris Miles at the club explained, the donation to the African Children’s Fund is a project that he and the club are particularly proud of.

“A friend of mine, Tamsyn Wymer, works for the African Children’s Fund, and spoke to me about the schools and asked if I could help by collecting some kit to send out to Kenya,” he explained. “A member of the African Children’s Fund was due to visit the schools in October last year, so I only had a short space of time to collect this kit.”

After putting out word to coaches and parents connected to Witney Vikings, the response was immediate and overwhelming.

“Within a week, we managed to collect approximately £2,000 worth of kit,” revealed Chris. “We had shirts, shorts, socks, training tops, coaches’ tops, goalkeeper gloves, goalkeeper tops, captain’s armbands and Respect armbands all donated.”

Following the remarkable response from the club’s community, the kit was sent across to Kenya, delivered to schools and presented to children and staff of one school, the SEN unit at Mangu Primary School, at the start of their academic year this month.

“The kids looked so happy,” said Chris on his reaction when he first saw the photos of the kit being put to use. “It was overwhelming to see how happy our football kit had made these kids, and their teacher of course.

“To think the shirts and Witney Vikings’ grassroots badge has travelled thousands of miles and is now being worn in Kenya is amazing, and something our sponsors will likely be amazed by too.

“I like to think we’ve started something really special,” concluded Chris. “Hopefully we can continue to support the charity in the future.”

For more information on the African Children’s Fund, please visit africanchildrensfund.org

To learn more about Witney Vikings, please visit www.witneyvikings.co.uk 

Congratulations to all at Witney Vikings on this incredible show of charity and community togetherness.