Kit4Sudan
What's it all about
This is an appeal started by myself and a friend Phil Tulba back in 2005. Phil, my housemate in my final year at Loughborough University, is half Sudanese and each Christmas goes out to Sudan to see family and train with the Sudanese Athletics Federation. Moved by the enthusiasm, despite the lack of means, of many of the athletes out there we decided to start a kit collection approaching fellow Loughborough athletes for any spare tracksuits, t-shirts, shorts, trainers/spikes (minus mud!) etc etc. We had an overwhelmingly generous response and it was in June of 2005 that the first consignment of approximately 30 kilos was sent out. This was kindly sponsored by Vince Wilson from Running Specialist to the full postage amount of around £180.

Here Phil tells you a bit about exactly where the kit goes to:
“The recipients are 10-20 year-olds who train at the main (only) synthetic athletics track in Khartoum. Many of the children live locally and come to train up to 6 days a week and participate in light track work between specific sessions and time trial races to instil a culture of competition.
 
Some of the youngsters come from El Obeid near the border with the south and then from Wau (a town and province in the south west). They attend a school nearby and are very talented with some of them winning World Youth medals and good enough to make the Olympics.
 
A bit about Sudan - of its 50 years of independence 38 years have been in civil war between a mainly Christian and 'black' south and Muslim and Arab north. It is estimated that 2 million people have perished in the last 23 years of war which was played out in the south. This resulted in up to 4 million refugees, many of which have ended up in vast camps just south of Khartoum.
 
The children just keep turning up and come from all faiths and backgrounds but with one common theme - they are generally very poor. Many of which turn up in their school uniforms with their 'kit' underneath and run in bare feet. Where they do have trainers they are in the most appalling state with flapping soles and toes poking through the uppers.”

Since the first consignment was sent out we have continued to receive more donations of kit from a variety of sources including friends from training clubs (such as Basingstoke AC, Stockport and Hallamshire Harriers), as well as end-of-range brand new kit from The Running Fox running shop in Loughborough and makers of specialist running socks and accessories Hilly Clothing Ltd in Stockport.

Update Jan 2007
The latest consignment of kit has recently been sent out – 96kg this time – a PB! Thanks to all those that donated kit, the majority of which was collected in Loughborough. Also thanks to CW Cargo in Manchester for giving us a discounted rate of £180 for shipping – miles cheaper than Royal Mail! This was very generously covered in full by Hugh Shields who responded to our appeal in Athletics Weekly.

How you can get involved:
Thanks to the generous support of athletes up and down the country, the appeal is going from strength to strength. If you too would like to contribute in some way to the cause, here are some ideas for how you can get involved:

* Give kit to me or Phil Tulba when you see us at races. Check out my calendar to see where i'm likely to be.
* Donate money towards shipping costs (any offers please email kit4sudan@hotmail.co.uk. Thanks)
* Start your own collection at your club and post direct to Jama Aden, Sudan Athletics Federation, PO Box 13274, Khartoum, Sudan. It’s much cheaper to use a cargo company for which you would also need a contact number in Sudan: 00249 913 508713

It’s that simple! Go on… and thanks because as you can see from an excerpt from an email i recently received from Jama, the head coach for Sudan Athletics, your support really makes a difference:

'The goods that you sent arrived. It's great stuff and i really appreciate your support, it means a lot to me and my athletes. It helps a lot of kids who do not have anything whatsoever.'