Kit Out the Nation - show your support by donating unwanted sports kit

Active Together are delighted to be working in partnership with BBC Radio Leicester to support Kit out the Nation to help provide sports equipment to children and young people who need it to get more active.

What is this campaign about?

Kit Out the Nation' is a BBC month long Make a Difference campaign aimed at taking in and distributing unwanted, good condition sports kit and getting it to children and teenagers who need it. It will mirror the 'Give a Laptop' campaign, working with partners around the country.

Why are we doing this?

We've long known of the issue around access to sport and exercise because of the affordability of kit. The situation has been compounded by the pandemic and this is our chance to help to improve that situation.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee published a report on 29th July 2021 where they said data from Sport England showing 100,000 fewer children met the recommended level of activity in 2020 than in 2019 was "of significant concern".

There are other benefits – it's recycling on a grand scale. Good condition equipment that would otherwise go to landfill getting an extended life, it benefits the environment.

How can you support?

If you have any old or unused sports kit in good condition that can be passed on to a child in need please donate them by dropping them off at any one of the designated 'drop-off zones'.

Where can you donate your unwanted sports kits?

There are also many donation drop off zones across the county, such as leisure centres and community venues where you can donate your kit from 4th September.

• CEL Sports, 5 Carvers Corner, Grange Drive, Glen Parva, Leicester, LE2 9PE
• Tom Flowers Cricket Coaching – 7B Church Street, Billesdon, Leicestershire, LE7 9AE

Everyone Active Sites:

• Enderby Leisure and Golf Centre – Mill Lane, Enderby, Leicester LE19 4LX
• Harborough leisure Centre – Northampton Road, Market Harborough LE169HF
• Huncote Leisure Centre – Sportsfield Ln, Huncote, Leicester, LE9 3BN
• Lutterworth Sports centre – Coventry road, Lutterworth LE174RB
• Parklands Leisure Centre – Washbrook Lane, Oadby, Leicester LE2 5QG
• Wigston Pool & Fitness Centre – Station Road, Wigston Leicester LE18 2DP
• Ashby Leisure Centre & Lido
• Hermitage Leisure Centre

Places Leisure Site:

• Hinckley Leisure Centre – Argents Mead, Hinckley LE10 1BZ

It's likely that a school near you is signed up, to find the closest school please go to www.business2schools.com

So, check out your cupboards, sort out the bedrooms and if you've got unwanted sports equipment help us get them to children and young adults.

Your old kit could be the reason a local child can access sport!

COULD YOUR ORGANISATION HELP BY BECOMING A DROP-OFF ZONE?

Companies, charities, sports clubs and community groups willing to offer their premises as 'drop-off zones' for the collection of clean kit in good condition at specified times. If you think you can help please Register Here

The details will then be shared on the Make a Difference website.

FAQs

• How often will gear be collected?

We'd advise any organisation to look at hooking up with a local school/club for a weekly collection, although if they get a lot in unexpectedly they might want to review that.

• How will people know where to take equipment at the venues?

Please make that clear on your website – we don't have the resources to make/supply signage.

• What happens to any unsuitable kit?

Schools/Clubs can usually make use of it as recycling, which they are paid for by weight. If not, partners can donate to local charity shops.

• Are we asking clubs/others to store gear to be collected by local schools/clubs?

Up to a point, if they don't have their own community activities which would mean they can move kit on themselves, they or their local BBC contact can get in touch with their nearest school/club that's involved and they'll arrange pick up weekly or more frequently if needed.

• Are you asking local schools to make contact with clubs?

Schools will be able to see the local partners at bbc.co.uk/makeadifference and we'll be contacting them so that they know the resources are available.

• Are we asking clubs/others to deliver collected gear to schools?

We anticipate schools registered via distribution partner business2schools will come to collect as noted above. We also hope to have a network of volunteers to assist

• Are all business2schools registered schools aware of the campaign?

They are, they've all been contacted and will be contacted again.

• Is anything being done to encourage more schools to register on that site?

We are actively looking for any gaps on the map to get schools to register so that they can benefit from the campaign; if any partners feel that there are schools they believe would benefit please suggest that they sign up. .

There are some terms and conditions…

As partners of BBC Make a Difference we ask you to

• Provide BBC Make a Difference with proof of charitable/non-profit status, although we can work with private companies in certain circumstances. (Charities must provide proof of registration with the Charities commission and no current or pending investigations)
• Provide a suitable link to your website for promotion on the BBC Make a Difference website.
• Supply the BBC with a copy of your data protection agreement
• On their site to give clear instructions about when they (the partner organisation) will be able to take in donations
• Work with our national partner business2schools for distribution of kit if required
• Reasonably record and feed back to BBC Make a Difference the volume and type of donations collected and distributed. Metric of measurement will be advised.
• Undertake that kit donated will not be sold and there is no profit to be made as part of our partnership.
• Provide BBC Make a Difference with email and phone contact details within office hours for liaison purposes
• Note that in contributing to BBC Make A Difference you agree to grant us a royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to publish and otherwise use the material in any way that we want, and in any media worldwide. It's important to note, however, that you still own the copyright to everything contributed to Make A Difference.
• If unsuitable kit is received this can be distributed to charity shops.