Donate African made balls to children in Africa

Alive & Kicking has enjoyed a great start to 2013. In Kenya and Zambia, thousands of balls continue to be stitched each month, while the first sellable quality balls are now being produced at A&K Ghana. In the UK, the ‘Balls For Africa’ partnership with John Lewis is still going strong, following impressive sales over the Christmas period.

A&K Ghana

Six months in to operations in Accra and Alive & Kicking Ghana is on time and under budget. We have hired our first 16 stitchers, 10 of whom are disabled, five are women and eight are under the age of 25, proving our commitment to employing those who would otherwise struggle to find work in Ghana. The team has impressed with its aptitude and commitment and are already making top quality balls and fulfilling their first sales orders.

It’s first six months have been a great success, but A&K Ghana’s future sustainability remains reliant on us reaching our three-year fundraising target of £402,00. We are currently £86,00 short of that total, half of which is needed for work this year.

John Lewis

Alive & Kicking’s ‘Balls For Africa’ project with John Lewis continues to impress, with the balls having now been on sale for over 6 months. They are being sold on a ‘buy one, donate one’ basis, with a Kenyan-made ball being donated in Kenya for every one sold in the UK, and are available for £20. The partnership was initially based around sales over the Christmas period and we are delighted that they are still rolling off the shelves, resulting in ever more balls being donated to Kenyan schools and children’s projects that otherwise could not afford them.

Support from sports stars

Alive & Kicking recently received the support of a number of well-known sporting personalities, who posed for pictures with our balls. Three of The Championship’s best performers this season, we are delighted that Wilfried Zaha, Nathaniel Chalobah and Yannick Bolasie took time out from their busy schedule to lend their support to Africa’s ball maker. Rugby league star Keith Mason was also kind enough to arrange for his teammates at Castleford Tigers to sign an Alive & Kicking rugby ball. All our celebrity supporters, as well as some great shots of our manufacturing and social outreach programmes, can be seen in our Photo Gallery.

Thank you

We would like to thank everyone who has supported Alive & Kicking recently and we look forward to giving our next GlobalGiving update in the summer. For more regular updates on our work, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.