Our Sports Kit Recycling programme enables young people to access equipment that allows them to take part in regular team sport and competitions in their community. For many young people across the world, a lack of the right sports equipment and clothing is a huge barrier preventing them from taking part in regular sport and experiencing all the positive benefits team sport can bring. 

Tonnes of good quality used, unwanted sports kit and equipment is donated to us by individuals and partners from across the country. We then send it on to community projects overseas and throughout the UK, (including to our own Wicketz projects) with each using it to do something positive in their community – from those promoting sport to those who set out to challenge inequality.

Our kit and equipment donations are a catalyst for change. It makes a real difference to communities, groups and individuals, enabling young people to train, compete, win and lose together – all life experiences and skills that aid personal development. 

The projects we donate kit to report overwhelmingly how helpful donations have been, not only because they’ve increased participation but because they’ve led to more fundamental community impacts – team bonding, better health, community integration, reductions in criminal activity, violence, alcohol or drug misuse, environmental benefits, youth empowerment, decreased levels of poverty and increases in aspiration, education and opportunity. 

This year we moved over 30,000 items into our new much larger warehouse to meet the continued demand from projects across the world for usable sports kit and equipment. Every piece of kit we recycle has a positive impact on the environment, saving it from landfill and giving it a new and valuable second life.

This programme was not immune from COVID as suppliers, transport companies, collection hubs and sports clubs closed for months, and countries worldwide concentrated only on essential shipments. Despite this we were still able to donate nearly 10,000 items of kit to projects in three continents.