Riverside Football Club

Thank you for these amazing football strips

Sarah’s blog 29/09/23

Today, Stuart and I started packing boxes ready for the next container going to Malawi. We’ve had these amazing kids football strips from Riverside Football Club in Stirling. They were donated to Replay Sport Scotland who passed it to us for use by the vulnerable young people we help to support in rural northern Malawi.

Replay Sport Scotland have already donated sports clothes to our charity which are currently on their way to Malawi. We look forward to seeing photos of those clothes and also the Riverside Football Club kits when they arrive in Malawi.

Thank you Riverside Football Club and thank you Replay Sport Scotland. These donations will make a big difference to the young people who love playing team sports. Thanks, Sarah x

Scottish Rugby & Club Donations

Some wonderful rugby donations!

Sarah’s blog 19/5/23

I’ve been amazed by how many wonderful, generous people support us to help the vulnerable children in rural northern Malawi.

We are facilitating Jack Mphande, Malawi Rugby Development officer to return to the rural north to work with teachers and children in primary schools as well as spending time with the children we help to support. Jack will be visiting for two weeks. His first visit was the first time rugby had been introduced and played in the north. Everyone loved it. They are looking forward to the end of September when he will visit again for two weeks.

Here, we have had people helping to provide kit, boots, balls and driving to pick donations up, box them up and drive them to Dundee to The Bananabox Trust to await the next container.

Some of the rugby clubs we have had support from include; Strathendrick Rugby Club (our local club who also raised money through a bake sale), Annan Rugby Club, Grangemouth Rugby Club, Hillfoots Rugby Club, Stirling County Rugby Club, Blaydon Rugby Club (Newcastle), Glasgow Warriors and Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh. We are very grateful for all the donations we have received and these will be able to be shared with different school teams in Malawi.

This week we also had a huge donation from the Scottish Rugby Union; 200 tops/jerseys/jackets + socks and shorts! Plus some new Scotland jerseys to auction. Many thanks to Scott at SRU for your help. Also to Michael and Gordon and everyone else who has helped to collect and donate kit. Bruce at Merchiston Castle School (and Happiness is Egg Shaped) has also been a huge help in sharing posts as well as donating kit, balls and boots.

What we also need is for people to share posts to raise awareness. We’d love rugby clubs to be able to raise £50-£100 each to pay for the cost of sending kit to Malawi and cover the cost of the two week rugby event in September. We will need to feed all the children who are taking part in the rugby training & tournament as no big charities are feeding children in schools that far north.

Can you ask 50 people at your club for £1 each? Could you have a bake sale for us? Or have a carwash or a sponsored event? If lots of clubs can help us a little bit then teamwork will make it happen. Please mail me for more info or to offer your financial support. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thanks for reading & supporting, Sarah x

All the rugby donations at Bananabox Trust, Dundee waiting for the next container
Brilliant! Thanks to the Scottish Rugby Union
some great kit donations
Jack Mphande, Rugby Development Officer
A great donation of rugby balls from Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh
Kit donated by Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh
the bake sale at training one Sunday morning at Strathendrick RFC

Queens Baton Relay Clothes & Scottish Swimming Team Clothes

Sarah’s blog 13/3/23

It’s been another busy day today. We met some new people and made some new connections which is always great. Today we were in Stirling to meet Tony at Replay Sport Scotland. They are a small charity who donate sports clothes and equipment to those in need and recycling/reusing/repairing sports equipment and sports clothes to ensure that, as much as possible, nothing ends up in landfill.

Replay Sports Scotland had a huge donation of clothing from The Queen’s Baton Relay and also from The Scottish Swimming Team. They have been able to distribute these to a variety of organisations in the Stirling area. I contacted Tony and told him about the projects we are supporting in Malawi and he was especially interested in the sports projects; football, netball and rugby.

So this morning we were given trousers from the Queens’ Baton Relay, and also t-shirts and jackets from the Scottish Swimming Team. Two boxes of these will be going to the students at Bright Futures Secondary School….and it just so happens to be the same blue as their school uniform!

Thanks so much to Tony and everyone else involved for allowing our charity to repurpose some of this kit to send to the students at Bright Futures Secondary School in rural northern Malawi. We will ensure that we receive lots of photos when this kit eventually arrives. The young people will be delighted.

I am putting a link to Bright Futures Secondary school here for those who might not have seen the new school Bright Futures Secondary School – desks, chairs, uniform & exams – Changing Lives Malawi

and also the link to the fundraiser for two more classrooms https://gofund.me/ece5753a .Our email address is contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com . Thanks for your support, Sarah x

%d bloggers like this: