Physical Health Kenya Project #5053

Donate African made balls to children in Africa

by Alive & Kicking

Project Report | Oct 9, 2015
Alive & Kicking October 2015 Report

By Simon Hilditch | Programme Manager

New A+K logo

October 2015 Progress Report

Alive and Kicking has had an exciting summer, undergoing a major re-brand and launching an exciting new website. The purpose of Alive and Kicking has not changed, however, and we continue to make over 5,000 sports balls each month, keeping over 140 people in Kenya, Zambia and Ghana in ethical employment and running wide-ranging sports-based health awareness programmes.

A new look for Alive and Kicking

September 2015 saw the launch of a new look for Alive and Kicking, celebrated with an event at Westminster School in London. ‘The Starting XI’ looked back at our achievements over our first eleven years of operation, and looked forward to our plans over the next eleven years and beyond. Launched with support from The Marketing Academy, our new brand will play a crucial role in increasing our impact across Africa.

The new logo is simple, strong and clear; the pentagon reflects our roots in using football to address social issues like unemployment and health awareness.

The best thing about the new website is you can see it on your mobile device meaning you can easily catch up on the latest news from Kenya, Zambia, Ghana or the UK on the go. Accessing the web from mobile devices is increasingly popular in Africa: over 50% of mobile phone users in Ghana access the internet; 95% of Facebook log-ins in Kenya are on mobile devices. Our new site means we are now better able to meet people where they are – both in the UK and increasingly in Africa.

You’ll also find plenty of new stuff on the site – videos from our staff and footage from our health programme work to complement the regular news updates. Our balls are made to be kicked and we want to see them in action, so take photos, send in video, tell us the story of your ball and we’ll put it up for the world to see!

Team AKK play their first games

Alive and Kicking Kenya has estlabished its very own staff football team, which played their first games as part of an open day at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi in September. The event was held in advance of the Extreme Sports Super 8 Soccer Tournament, which aims to create opportunities for young people from Nairobi and create awareness of issues such as drug abuse and HIV.

AAK shortlisted for Social Enterprise Award

We are delighted to have been shortlisted for the 2015 Social Enterprise Awards in the International Impact category!

The nomination follows on from being shortlisted for last year’s award in the ‘Consumer Facing Social Enterprise’ category, where we were edged out by Belu, the mineral water company that has donated over £1m to WaterAid.

As always in the social enterprise sector, there is strong competition from a range of exciting and innovative organisations.

This year, we are up against co-operative chocolatiers Divine Chocolate, From Babies With Love (who support A&K partner SOS Children’s Villages), ethical investors Shared Interest and fair-trade Palestinian company Zaytoun.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in London on 26 November.

AKK set for community football weekend

Alive and Kicking partner Vision Africa will host a weekend of football and community outreach in Kenya in October, when 200 young people take part in the “Patron’s Football Tournament”.

16 girls and boys teams will participate in the tournament and 100 volunteers will run a variety of workshops covering topics that affect young people in Kenya, including drugs/alcohol, gender violence and HIV/Aids. Football is an ideal way of bringing communities together and breaking down taboos around socially sensitive subjects.

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Jul 10, 2015
Alive & Kicking July 2015 Report

By Simon Hilditch | Programme Manager

Half way through 2015, Alive & Kicking is enjoying a very exciting year. Our stitching centres in Accra, Lusaka and Nairobi continue to produce over 5,000 sports balls a month, providing over 140 people with sustainable employment while providing quality equipment for disadvantaged children. We have also launched this year’s health education programme in Ghana, with similar programmes to come in Kenya and Zambia.

Arsenal in the Community support A&K Ghana Health Outreach Programme

Building on the success of last year’s inaugural A&K Ghana health project, we are again training a cohort of local coaches to deliver specially designed health educative football training drills. This year’s programme has been sponsored by ICAP Charity Day.

The drills will be used to teach local young people about HIV and malaria; how they work, how to prevent them, and what to do if affected.

By training coaches who work with young people on a regular basis to deliver the sessions themselves, we can ensure that health education is continually taught going forward.

This year we have also enlisted the support of Arsenal in the Community, who have sent gap year coaches Max and Laura to join our programme in Accra.

The Arsenal gappers are spending a total of two months with us in Ghana, delivering football drills in local schools and supporting the training of local coaches.

Rugby

With the Rugby World Cup taking place later this year, this is the perfect time to get young people across Africa involved in the game and taking advantage of the benefits of competitive sport.

As part of our drive to improve access to sporting equipment among disadvantaged young people across Africa, we have also recently donated balls to the Tag Rugby Trust in Zambia and Entebbe Sharks, a girls’ rugby initiative in Uganda, as well as the Uganda Ladies Rugby team

Thank you

As Alive & Kicking continues to grow and help more people across Kenya, Zambia and Ghana, our individual supporters remain as important as ever. Thank you to everyone who donated in the last period, and we look forward to giving our next update soon.

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Apr 16, 2015
Global Giving report April 2015

By Alexander Salfiti | Fundraising Intern

Getting well into 2015 and Alive & Kicking’s work hasn’t let up. With 2015 shaping up to be a successful year for Alive & Kicking we are proud to say that our stitching centres in Nairobi, Lusaka and Accra continue to produce over 5,000 footballs a month; providing over 130 people with stainable employment while providing disadvantaged children with quality sports balls. We’ve also launched some exciting initiatives that will help us improve the health and quality of life of disadvantaged young people in our countries of operation.

Having a ball in Kenya

Recently Alive & Kicking has had some fantastic exposure on African News channel eNCA where Robyn Kriel was sent as part of a wider TV feature on Alive & Kicking’s work in Kenya. Robyn’s film showed the great impactthat Alive & Kicking has on local communities by providing sustainable long-term jobs to those who otherwise would have struggled to find a decent paged job. Her visit also highlighted the great work we do with our health and well-being outreach programmes, such as our HIV awareness work and our latest football programme for the visually impaired. You can see Robyn Kriel’s eNCA clip here.

Young Entrepreneurs scheme

Alive & Kicking’s Ghana team have been hard at work continuing our young entrepreneurs scheme. In collaboration with Comic Relief, we have been helping budding entrepreneurs learn about business, creativity, innovation and sales.We love seeing people thrive here at Alive & Kicking and to see young people getting involved to help sell Alive & Kicking merchandise to help re-invest that generated income back into their own micro-enterprises and to buy and sell more and more balls, not only lifting those involved out of poverty but actively giving them the skills and tools necessary to become a successful business thinker and to pave the way for that next generation of forward thinkers.

We have many more things in the pipeline such as fundraising events in the UK like a football tournament at Wembley, a comedy night and a 10K run.If you want to join in the fun and help Alive & Kicking continue our work in Kenya, Zambia and Ghana, please visit the events page on our website for more information

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