Shropshire charity marks 20 years of sending football shirts to people in need across the world
A football shirt charity which delivers kits to people all over the globe is celebrating a record-breaking year as it approaches its 20-year anniversary.
The Taking Football to Africa and Beyond appeal, which operates from RAF Shawbury, delivered around 40,000 items of football kit in 2025, including 12,000 football shirts.
The appeal began in 2006 and is gearing up for its next trip to Kenya in early February.
There were 20 countries to receive donations last year, including Kenya, Nepal, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ukraine, Rwanda, Uganda and Ghana.
The appeal continues to grow and has now delivered kit to 71 different countries since it started.
The full total of items handed out stands at 443,381, including 125,598 shirts.
Clubs, schools and individuals from across the UK have assisted by continuously donating large amounts of kit.
Major donations in 2025 included from Aston Villa, the English Football Association, Leicester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Arsenal, Worcestershire FA, Wallsend Boys Club, Kidderminster Harriers and many others.
The appeal, run by Squadron Leader Mark Smales and retired Wing Commander Neil Hope MBE, relies on the goodwill and help of many people in the UK and across the world, especially in Kenya (BATUK and Braeburn Garden Estate School) and Nepal (the Gurkha Welfare Trust).
In January 2024, the appeal also assisted in the creation of Lottie’s Way - The Charlotte Hope Foundation.
The foundation was set up in memory of Wng Cdr Hope's 19-year-old daughter and aims to raise funds in her name that will be allocated to organisations assisting in ensuring education and feeding of less privileged children worldwide.
While the shirts appeal operates alongside Lottie’s Way it continues to operate in a purely non-financed model.
Wng Cdr Hope said: "I am extremely proud to see the success of the appeal over so many years. Our links to Lottie’s Way allow us to celebrate Charlotte’s short life, which was cruelly taken from us by a drug driver, due to her links to the appeal, something she tirelessly assisted with, and to her efforts in volunteering in Kenya.
"Hopefully the continued efforts of both the appeal and the charity will help so many others. We enjoyed a hugely successful Nepal delivery trip in 2025 and will shortly embark on a Kenya delivery trip with a group of 16 people."
