Building on the success of last year, Ernulf Academy in St Neots is helping with the ‘Kitmas 25’ football shirt charity this year. The Kitmas crowdfunder was set up by football podcaster and activist Paul Watson and his wife Lizzie, in 2020. The idea was to collect and regift football shirts, to give to children who may not otherwise receive any presents. This year marks the sixth year the charity has been asking for donations, with Ernulf Academy acting as the central hub for all the secondhand shirts to be delivered across the country.
Last year, students at Ernulf helped to unpack and sort over 350 of donated shirts, and students will also help to distribute some brand-new football shirts purchased with money donated by the public. Once received, the shirts are wrapped in Christmas paper and distributed around the country to young people who may well not receive a gift for Christmas.
This year people are being asked to help either by donating money to the charity, donate a ‘preloved’ football shirt or create their own Kitmas at their local club. Celebrities and football fans have already started to get involved, with James Corden donating £2000 saying “this is a great cause, a brilliant idea. Happy Christmas indeed!’ and one football fan writing “hope to fund as many Scotland shirts as possible this Christmas”.
Tulah Nixon, Head Girl at Ernulf Academy said:
“Christmas is a time for giving and I couldn’t wait to get involved and support this brilliant initiative. I cannot imagine how it feels to not receive a present at Christmas and I’d like to play my part to ensure that some children will get that chance”.
Kristupas Spinkis, Head Boy at Ernulf Academy said: “For me Christmas should be about happiness and joy. Helping people less fortunate than myself is something that I want to do and hopefully spread joy a little further this Christmas time”.
Michael Cox, Vice Principal at Ernulf Academy said:
“Last year was a brilliant success and our students were fantastic. So far, the campaign has raised over £85,000 and donated 6,000 shirts to young football fans, so I really hope the public can get involved again.
I’m looking forward to another fantastic Kitmas!”
Ernulf Academy is asking the local community to get involved too by donating any unwanted kit, gift some money to the Kitmas charity or start up their own Kitmas collection at local clubs. For more information, visit Kitmas ’25: the gift of football – a Community crowdfunding project in Stroud by Kitmas.
See there appearance on ITV Anglia, below.
