Watch as Kenyan children send message of thanks to Sunderland AFC after receiving donation of thousands of pounds worth of kit

Impoverished children in Kenya have sent a video message of thanks to SAFC after the club donated of items of football kit worth thousands of pounds, including strips, to help enable the children enjoy playing football.

At the end of May (2024) staff at the Academy of Light were joined by sixth form students from Harton Academy to box-up the kit which included the most recent season’s home and away strips, training tops, footballs, rain jackets and sports bags. The students were heading on an expedition to Kenya and were taking the SAFC gear to donate to the Black Cats Sports Programme which was set up by the charity Moving Mountains. The programme provides food, education and football coaching to some of Kenya’s most marginalised and vulnerable young people including street children, orphans, internally displaced people, and young people from urban slum communities.

The video sent to the club shows the children dressed in SAFC strips with one of the boys giving a heart-felt message of thanks for the donated kit before the children give out a big cheer.

He said: “Thank you Sunderland Association Football Club for the donation of the football kit to Black Cats Football Club.

“They are great and we are enjoying them. We would like to invite you to come and play with us.”

The charity and school also sent photographs showing the smiling boys and girls kitted out in red and white enjoying playing football and taking part in coaching sessions with the Harton Academy Sixth Form students.

The programme is funded by the travel company, Adventure Alternative, and was given the name the ‘Black Cats’ as one of the company’s directors is a “big Sunderland SAFC fan”. The charity was founded by mountaineer Gavin Bate.

In a message of thanks to the club Gavin said: “I wanted to write to the club to thank them for the amazing donation of Sunderland kit which was donated to our Black Cats football academy in Kenya.

“Everything arrived safely and the Harton Academy team gave everything to the kids and then ran a very successful soccer camp for around 75 children for a week as part of our football fixtures throughout the year.

“It was just such a happy experience and the kids were so happy.”

The donation of the kit was facilitated by SAFC’s head of education, Don Peattie, after he was contacted by Harton Academy.

After seeing the video and photographs, Don said: “It is so thrilling to see all the young children, both boys and girls, with Sunderland AFC strips and kit on. 

“It has been a real privilege to be able to donate the kit and help young people who are so much worse off than we are. 

“The best part of the pictures that we received was seeing the smiles on the faces of the young people and how much they seemed to be enjoying themselves. 

“As a club, we have been only too pleased to help with the project.  Hopefully, they will all become SAFC fans.”  The kit was delivered to the charity by nine youngsters from Harton Academy Sixth Form who were visiting the country as part of an expedition to climb Mt Kenya.

Whilst in Kenya they visited the town of Embu, the home of the Black Cats programme, where they passed on the donated kit and ran coaching sessions with the children.

Also on the expedition was the school’s deputy head teacher, Richard Burroughs, who said: “All the students found it a really humbling experience as they delivered all the kit that Sunderland AFC very kindly donated.

“The children's faces lit up when they saw how much kit was being donated and they all put the shirts on immediately.

“The Sixth Form students found it so rewarding to make a positive difference and football really is a universal connection that brings people and communities together.

“They knew so much about the clubs and players from around the world and it means all the more with the connection with Sunderland AFC. We are planning on going back every other year to Kenya, so hope to build on what has been achieved this year.”

One of the Black Cats Sports Programme’s biggest success stories is Victor Wanyama who went on to play for Celtic, Southampton and Spurs.