We teamed up with Watford FC, and KitAid, as part of Green Football’s Great Save campaign.
One of the key messages of Green Football’s Great Save was for fans, clubs and footballers to join together to keep kits out of landfills to help protect football and our planet.
Instead of throwing your old kit away, the campaign has highlighted ways of re-using, upcycling or passing it on.
Drop-off points for kit donations were set up at The Hornets Shop at Vicarage Road, as well as at our community hubs in Watford and Harrow, the Meriden Community Centre and Cedars Youth & Community Centre.
Drives were also undertaken at two of Watford FC’s matchdays, including a half-time interview with KitAid founder Derrick Williams MBE during the Swansea City fixture on March 12.
All of the kits have now been collected by KitAid and will be sorted before being sent on their journey to communities in need overseas.
Also at the stadium, but this time on a non-matchday, there was a Green Football’s Great Save takeover at a recent graduation event for pupils from the Trust’s delivery of Premier League Inspires and Changemakers.
Fashion students from our partner, the University of Hertfordshire, delivered workshops with secondary school pupils, creating handbags out of old Watford FC kits.
The event then culminated in a fashion show, in which the upcycled bags were modelled by pupils. They were joined by Watford FC Women’s star Anna Filbey and two players from the Watford FC Academy’s Under-18s team, who judged the efforts and awarded the best bags on show.
Premier League Inspires is a personal development programme, funded by the Premier League and the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) through the Premier League Charitable Fund.
The programme uses the power of football to inspire young people aged 11 to 18 to develop the personal skills and positive attitudes needed to succeed in life.
Elsewhere, partner primary schools engaged in a carousel of Premier League Primary Stars workshops, thanks to resources from Green Football’s Great Save and the Match of the Day magazine.
Children learnt what happens to sports kits that are thrown away and the negative impact that this has on the environment, and came up with their own solutions.
Practical elements of the workshops included sewing and, of course, football!
Premier League Primary Stars is the Premier League’s primary school education programme. Funded by the Premier League Charitable Fund, the programme uses the appeal of football to help children to be active and develop essential life skills.
Although the Green Football’s Great Save campaign has now ended, the need to continue our environmental sustainability efforts carries on. Think to yourself, how can you be more green?
Why is this important?
Football is facing a climate crisis, and we can all play a part in protecting the game we love.
Every year, an estimated 100,000 tonnes of sportswear ends up in UK landfills – but by keeping our kit in play for just nine more months, we can reduce its environmental impact by up to 30 per cent.
About KitAid
KitAid was founded in 1998 by Hornets Season Ticket holder Derrick Williams MBE, with Graham Taylor OBE becoming a patron in 2005.
The volunteer-run registered charity has donated more than 1.1 million items of kit across Africa, South America, Asia and Eastern Europe, supporting more than 75,000 teams across the developing world.
Watford FC has supported KitAid for many years, holding previous collections at The Vic as well as regularly donating surplus kit from the training ground, Hornets Shop and the club’s Community Trust.
Each year, 100,000 items of kit are recycled by the charity, preventing them from landfill or from being burned.
