Amazing KitAid donation by Marine

Evo-Stik Northern Premier League side Marine have collected what is believed to be a record 2,000 items of football kit for KitAid, a charity that helps underprivileged children and adults in over 30 countries across the world.

The campaign by Marine to collect unwanted football kit has been planned by their Community Officer Barry Lenton and their appeal to the public has been supported by BBC Radio Merseyside. The number of items of kit that has been collected so far stands at 2,030 with donations being made from families, schools and businesses across Merseyside. Another consignment for destination overseas was collected last week by Swift Despatch from Huyton and was delivered by them free of charge to a warehouse in Hertfordshire ready for the long journey ahead.

Derrick Williams MBE, Founder of KitAid, said, “I am delighted with the fantastic support received from both Marine and BBC Radio Merseyside. This is the highest amount of kit we have ever collected from a single appeal by a Football Club and it is great testament to the hard work of Barry Lenton at Marine and to the generosity of people across Liverpool.

"KitAid has had a great relationship with the people of Liverpool for a number of years, especially as the charity was formed as a result of me seeing a young boy wearing a ragged LFC shirt in Tanzania way back in 1998. Thank you to Marine, BBC Radio Merseyside and all of the people who have donated their kit and we promise to find a very good home for it.”

Marine Chairman Paul Leary said, “This is another fantastic achievement for our football club. Led by our community officer Barry Lenton with the support of BBC Radio Merseyside this appeal has surpassed all expectations. We shall continue to collect football kits for children around the world who need them and our immediate target is now to collect 3,000. I have no doubt that the people of Merseyside will continue to respond so magnificently to this most important cause.”

The Marine Community officer added, “I thought when we launched our KitAid appeal just before Christmas that we would perhaps have collected 1,000 items by the end of July when the schools break up. This was our target. However, as soon as we had Radio Merseyside on board it was clear that this would be achieved a lot sooner.

"Their promotional trailer, which includes the voices of St. William of York pupils, really touches the heartstrings and has inspired a lot of people to donate their unwanted kits and the listeners of Radio Merseyside have contributed over half the total.

"Forefield Juniors, Great Crosby, St. William of York and St. Mary's Prep have all made significant contributions and many schools outside the area are helping including De La Salle, Christ The King, Birkdale High, Helsby High and St.Luke's, Frodsham.

"One Vision Housing, the Inland Revenue in Bootle and the Criminal Records Bureau in the city centre are collecting and have made generous contributions to the total.

"A lot of families have contacted me, including David Sheekey from Ormskirk, who gave me 7 brand new pairs of
boots. His wife is Ugandan and they have decided to name a bar they own in Kampala, the capital, "The Marine" as a direct result of our partnership with Kit Aid. We'll be giving him some Marine shirts and souvenirs to take over with him when he goes over next month.

"There is no deadline to hand your kits in as we intend to help with KitAid for a very long time now that we have forged a successful partnership with such a worthwhile charity".