Big-hearted members of staff at a care home are proving to be Premier League stars when it comes to charitable giving.
Hundreds of Kenyan children, living in poverty, will soon be kitted out in smart football shirts thanks to the efforts of employees at the Gwern Alyn home, which is part of the Pendine Park care organistion.
They began collecting football shirts two years ago after Pendine Park proprietor Mario Kreft returned from a trip to East Africa.
During the visit he witnessed at first hand the abject poverty that blights the lives of thousands of children.
And the brother and sister-in-law of Gwern Alyn Care Home Manager, Cindy Clutton, also got involved following a beach and safari holiday to Mombassa.
Cindy said: “Mario came back from Kenya and suggested we began collecting any unwanted football shirts and other bits of kit. Staff really took the idea on board and we began collecting one or two shirts.
“Our activities co-ordinator at Gwern Alyn, Gwen Hughes, has put a great deal of effort into collecting a huge number of shirts.
“She even contacted Wrexham Football Club who donated a stack of brand new shirts which was a magnificent gesture.
“Mario is a big Manchester United fan and has donated a number of shirts from Old Trafford.
“He will take some of the shirts out to Kenya while my own brother, Mark Harden, and his wife Geraldine, are going back out to Mombassa in a couple of weeks time.
“They are taking a suitcase full of shirts with them ready to hand out to children once they arrive. In fact I don’t think Mark will have room for any clothes of his own!”
Geraldine Harden says she and her husband, Mark, who live in Oswestry, became involved in collecting football shirts and other gifts for poor African children following their holiday two years ago.
She said: “We had a wonderful time but were so angry at the poverty in which so many children live.
“These poor kids have absolutely nothing. We were so touched by how just a small gift, like a football shirt, can make such a huge difference to their lives.
“We came home from our holiday and we now sponsor a child, a little girl called Kizigwa who is now six.
“It only costs us £10 a month through a charity called HOLA (Helping Orphans Live Again). We have been back out, in fact I can’t see us every holidaying anywhere else again, and met Kizingwa.”
Mark and Geraldine are heading back to Kenya shortly and will be taking around 60 of the football shirts collected by Pendine Park staff.
Geraldine said: “Mark is filling his suitcase with shirts, shorts and other bits of kit and he has got a couple of new footballs and pumps to take too as well as basics like pencils, pens and whatever other small items we can carry.
“In fact Mark’s only going to have room for a few of his own clothes in hand luggage as his case will be full of shirts and other gifts. We are really grateful to all the Pendine Park staff for their efforts in collecting so many shirts, it will make a massive difference.”
