Swindon Town

64 large boxes full of donations from the community are now on the 7,500 mile journey to Livingstone, Zambia.

DHL have once again offered their generous support in transporting safely to Zambia. The boxes contain more than 400 pairs of boots, 45 full sets of match kits, over 100 footballs, coaching equipment, 1000 Npower yo-yo’s and school books. These donations are very much appreciated in the communities of Livingstone and Mandy Lloyd – Area Sales Manager - explained why DHL are keen to offer their support: "At DHL we're delighted to support Swindon Town Football Club in its sixth year for this really valuable project. We know what a huge difference donations of football kit makes to the children in Zambia, so we're excited to help out in transporting it.

"Although we're a company with global reach, we think local - which is what supporting projects like the Swindon FC Community Trust is all about."

The donations will arrive shortly before a team of eight STFC Community Trust coaches and volunteers land in Zambia to spend 10 days at the beginning of November, delivering a variety of Community Development programmes. The projects include Coach Education to local coaches and youth workers, In-Schools Coaching, Disability Coaching, Girls Development, and providing Solar Lighting to a rural school. The last 2 days will see local teams come together for a festival and tournament.

These projects have been developed and enhanced over the last eight years and form the foundations of the partnership between Livingstone and Swindon. Community Trust Manger Jon Holloway commented: "Our Zambia Project is a special programme within our STFC Community Trust. The project has really grown over the last few years and now we have several schools and organisations in Swindon forming partnerships and twinning with similar schools and groups in Livingstone.

"This has further broadened the initial football partnership and shown how mutually beneficial this work has been to not just the people in Zambia but also our community and children in Swindon. Many thanks must go to our supporters and sponsors who have enabled this partnership to be such a success. We have had great support from The Big Yellow self-storage, Intel, DHL, Npower, PFA, Lights for Learning & Football Clubs in Global Partnerships, as well as our participants and fans of STFC."

For more details about the Zambia Project please visit the STFITC website  www.stfitc.co.uk  or contact the Community Trust on 01793 421303.