We are proud to have teamed up with Rochdale AFC Community Trust and BBC Radio Manchester to support the BBC's Kit Out the Nation campaign.
Kit Out the Nation is a month long initiative, run by the BBC, which looks to make a difference across local communities. It is 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.
It started earlier this month and you only have until October 2nd to donate!
How to donate
If you have any old or unused sports kit in good condition that can be passed on to a child in need please donate to the Rochdale AFC Community Trust offices at the Crown Oil Arena during their opening hours - Monday to Friday, 9am–7pm. Or, if you’re attending any Community Trust sessions, you can also leave the equipment with Trust coaches.
Rochdale AFC Community Trust will then work with local schools and children in our programmes to distribute to local children in need of a little extra support.
Your old kit could be the reason a local child can access sport!
Why is the BBC 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”.
They called for:
- a sporting equivalent of the “Eat Out to Help Out” campaign, entitled “Work Out to Help Out”, to incentivise volunteers and participants to get involved, participate in organised sport and support the sporting infrastructure, both in England and across the UK
- before the end of this year, the government should initiate a nationwide communications campaign, similar to that of the “five a day” campaign, to emphasise the importance of children and young people engaging in at least 60 minutes of moderate activity every day
- the government work with Sport England, UK Sport and the National Lottery to review and revise the current funding models to enable sports organisations to accumulate greater reserves and, as a result, have more of a cushion to support themselves with should another situation like the COVID pandemic occur
- the government should set out the ways in which it intends to encourage schools across the country to make their facilities more available to community and grassroots sports clubs at a fair rate
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.