Campaign for gear sets children up to play sport
The boxes are already half full with preloved children’s sports gear days after a Donate Your Kit collection point was set up in the Timaru Harlequins clubrooms.
One in eight children feel excluded from sport because they do not have the gear to play, Sport NZ research shows, so Cadbury has launched the campaign allowing anyone with children’s sports gear which is still in good condition to drop it off at a ‘‘purple locker’’ collection point. Timaru’s drop-off points are the Harlequins Rugby Club, 34 Church St, and the South Canterbury Rugby Union, 328 Church St.
Timaru Harlequins Rugby Club JAB (junior rugby section) immediate past president Grant George said he thought the initiative, launched at the end of last year, was ‘‘awesome’’.
‘‘It is a way of getting kids to play and keep them playing while taking the burden of cost off parents,’’ he said.
He said lack of sports gear was not the sole reason there was a drop-off in sport as children got older – fees and not being able to afford transport being the other contributors. Harlequins tried to keep subs low at $50 a year and supplied mouth guards, training T-shirts and jerseys.
Parents only had to provide their children with boots, socks and shorts. ‘‘Rugby is a cheap sport.’’ George has been playing rugby since he was 5 and said that as well as making friends for life through the teams, parents often made friends with other parents they met on the sideline.
Timaru Harlequins JAB committee member and mother Rachael Milne said her rugby mad son, Jaxson Cahill-Milne, 8, had been playing for the past three years and needed new boots each season as he grew out of them. At a cost of $80-$100, she would rather see his old ones worn by another child for a few more seasons than sold for $30 online.
She thought it must be hard on families with two or three children playing sport.
Alongside the Donate Your Kit boxes at the club, there is a drop-off specifically for Harlequins’ players, so donors have a choice who they give to. Anything not used by Harlequins will be passed on to the campaign.
Sport equipment given needed to be free of rips, stains and holes and could include bibs, balls, bats, football and rugby boots, sports bags, general sportswear and general training equipment and kit for cricket, softball, football, rugby, hockey and netball.
The campaign is in partnership with the Cadbury chocolate brand, NZ Olympic Committee, Paralympics NZ and KidsCan.
Cadbury collects the donations and KidsCan distributes them to schools which can order them through the same online portal process they use for accessing food, shoes, raincoats and health items from the charitable organisation.
The portal is open for several weeks once a term. This term, 10,000 sports items were available including 2000 new sports items and 6000 secondhand. So far 9000 have been ordered.
KidsCan chief executive Julie Chapman said the sports kit was first offered to decile one schools, then opened to all schools KidsCan supports.
‘‘We are really excited that thousands of items of sports gear will be heading out to schools shortly.
‘‘Providing sports kit to children in New Zealand who would not have otherwise had the opportunity to participate is a good first step towards breaking down barriers making sure all Kiwi kids can participate in sports,’’ she said.
For anyone unable to drop gear off, a free courier post label is available by emailing cadburydonateyourkit.co.nz.