Premier League Kicks volunteers donate kit as part of Green Football Weekend

Swansea City AFC Foundation’s Premier League Kicks volunteers led a kit drive to support Green Football Weekend as part of their social action challenge to protect the planet.

With 51% of clothes ending up in landfills, the Kicks volunteers decided to look for a way to tackle this sustainability issue.

The volunteers – made up of teenagers who are former Kicks participants – worked with current participants of the project to encourage those around them to recycle clothes instead of binning them.

They linked up with local charity The Boot Room to ensure those clothes were donated to those in the community who needed them most, and the items were dropped off at The Boot Room’s boot drive on Saturday.

Aedan Cousins, one of the Premier League Kicks volunteers, said: “The Premier League set us the challenge to protect the planet and we thought that we could use the facilities and resources at the club to bring in clothes that could be recycled, or given to those who need them via the Boot Room.

“It’s great to see that people who might be struggling during the cost-of-living crisis have the opportunity to access these resources.

“It also means that people don’t need to buy new clothes – which means less clothes are made – and prevents second-hand clothing from being thrown into landfill.”

Ami Tanikie, another Kicks volunteers, added: “Making sure that people have access to kits and boots ensures they can still attend our sessions and still be part of it like everyone else.

“We want to make sure that we prevent these clothes from going into landfill, which is where lots of wearable clothing ends up, so we get to help the planet as well as the people in our community.

“We’re going to continue to collect kit and boots for the next couple of weeks, at Kicks sessions and at Soccer Camps in half-term, so this is just the start.”