Sarah’s blog 20/9/25
It’s great to hear from someone new asking if you would like sports kit. Paul, who is connected with Lichfield Spires Netball Club had contacted me a few months ago. He said they were getting new kit and would we want to send their preloved kit to Malawi. I said YES PLEASE!
Netball is one of the national sports in Malawi and, so far, all we have managed to send is some netball bibs. We’ve sent plenty of football and rugby kit but have been very aware that the netball teams hadn’t had as much attention. Until now. Paul explained that their club has several teams, spanning different age groups so we would be receiving kit in children’s and in adult sizes.
What has been so helpful is that some members of the club donated money to help send the kit to Malawi. Often we have people who are keen to donate items to us but then we are left having to fundraise to cover the cost of sending boxes on the container. It costs £17.50 per box to cover the cost of the container which is organised by a charity in Dundee, The Bananabox Trust. We are very grateful for all the hard work from their volunteers with receiving and labelling boxes and packing the container which is used by lots of organisations sending aid to Malawi.
Today shows how much people care about making a difference to the vulnerable children we help to support. The town of Lichfield is approximately 300 miles from where we live. Paul very kindly offered to meet my husband, Stuart, halfway. So this morning, Paul and Stuart met up in a carpark in Penrith and Paul handed the boxes of netball kit to Stuart. That is such an act of kindness. Both men will have had other things they could have prioritised today but they ensured that these kits were handed over to be reused. Thank you both.
This netball kit is going to be an amazing gift to the young people in rural northern Malawi. Until a few years ago, when we (and others who support us) started sending sports kit to Malawi, there was no matching sports kit. The children and young people love team sports. They love being able to forget about the traumas they have in their lives. They love the sense of belonging. They love being with their friends. And they love having smart, matching sports kit which they wear with a sense of pride.
Having matching kit is a real boost to their self-esteem. People in a different country have cared enough about them to want to make their lives a little bit better. Kindness matters. These children and young people, all of whom live in extreme poverty, most of whom are orphans living with extended family, are no longer ignored and side-lined. They know that they matter and they want a brighter future for themselves through education and learning new skills.
So this is a big thank you to Paul for organising all the netball kit collection and for bringing it halfway today to hand it over to Stuart. We are very grateful. Also to everyone who donated kit and those who have helped towards shipping costs, thanks so much. Stuart, what would we do without you? You do so much for the charity and ensuring everything gets boxed up properly for the long journey to Malawi. Thank you, Stuart.
Please sign up to receive my blogs so you’ll see when the netball kit arrives, and follow us on social media for lots of photos. Please do tell your friends too.
I’m adding the QR code to this post in case anyone does want to make a small donation. I need to buy some netballs to send with the kit. If you’ve liked reading this post and want to help then a donation of £5 would be really helpful. Or you can donate via the page on our website too.
Hope you enjoy these photos and hopefully, in a few months time, there will be happy photos from netball teams wearing their Lichfield Spires Netball Kit with pride. Thanks again everyone, Sarah x
ps I’ve attached the link to International Literacy Day if you’ve not managed to read about our School Literacy Project – we are very proud of the young people we are helping to support. Sarah x
