We’ve had the following in a press release from Rayleigh Boys Football Club:
Rayleigh Boys support underprivileged footballers in South Africa
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The name of the area that Rayleigh Boys Youth FC is sending their donations is the Emalahleni Municipality, Nkangala District, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.
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Up until recently our primarily our focus has been on two schools, Blackhillschoongezitch and Kromdraai. However, in light of a recent increase in donations we have managed to widen our distribution so that other local primary schools have also benefited from our efforts.
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We have just delivered a further large batch of donations that consisted of mainly football kits, football boots and children?s clothing. Some of these donations are going to be used as prizes at a football tournament that is being organised by our local contact Mrs Albertinah Matlakala who is a community development officer.
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The tournament will include local pre-schools, primary schools, disabled communities teams and secondary schools….
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Most of the children that receive our donations tend to fall into three family categories. eg. The family is headed by either:
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– A child: children that have lost their parents due to HIV/AIDS or other illness and are without elders so have to look after their siblings.
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– Grandparents: children that have lost their parents due to HIV/AIDS or other illness but have the support from their grand parents.
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– Volunteer from the community: children that are living with temporary voluntary/foster parents….
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The importance of RBYFC donations
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Most local clubs and schools cannot afford to buy football kits and football boots, which is why the donations from RBYFC are so important.
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In light of the continuity of our donations, the local football clubs have been obliged to enter into an agreement to ?own? some of the football kits and football boots in order to have a stock readily available for training and matches. This has the benefit of providing basic kit to those children wanting to play football and encourages strong attendance and provides the opportunity to become part of a team.
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To further incentivise the children to join the football teams, the England and premier league shirts donated by RBYFC are given as a gift to new arrivals.
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Clothing, school shoes and trainers are given to the spectators that come along and support the teams.
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At a recent monthly meeting with the municipality, local football clubs and community ward councillors it was commented that the RBYFC ongoing campaign has contributed to an increase in the number of youngsters joining the football clubs and therefore has reduced the number of children on the streets. This has contributed to a reduction in street crime and increased awareness of the importance of a safe and healthy lifestyle.
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……Please call Danny on 07768 992 021 if you can donate any children?s, football boots, football kits, trainers, or school shoes.
For those who are curious , The Emalahleni Local Municipality was formerly known as “Witbank”; the municipality and the town were renamed to “Emalahleni”, meaning “place of coal” in 2006.
You can find it on Google Maps here.
