Carlisle United have been donating old academy kits which will go to National Park Rangers’ families in South Africa.
Manager Paul Simpson received a letter recently asking for kit donations to support charity Blankets for Baby Rhinos.
The club’s Community Sports Trust stepped in to donate further playing and training kits.
The charity works to support anti-poaching efforts in South Africa where rhinos are poached for their horns. The kits will be passed on to the children of the Rangers in Kruger National Park which Blankets for Baby Rhinos support.
These Rangers are the only thing standing between the rhinos and extinction.
Paul Simpson said: “I received a letter from Linda Grave who is a Trustee of the charity and she asked if we had any old kits which we could give to her to take over to South Africa.
“We donate kits to various charities at the end of each season and we were happy to support this charity this year.
“The kits will be going to the kids of the Rangers who do the important job of protecting rhinos from poaching, and we hope they bring them plenty of success in the football matches they play in them.”
Linda said: “We are overwhelmed with the response from Paul and the Community Sports Trust. The kits will make these kids feel very special indeed and they will no longer have to play football and team games in their own clothes.
“These kids are our Rangers for the future and one day will continue the hard and incredibly brave work of their parents.”
Elisa Best, Founder and Head Trustee of Blankets for Baby Rhinos said: “We are very grateful to Carlisle United for this amazing donation. These rangers and their families need to be looked after and donations like this will really make them realise that people on the other side of the world are thinking of them.”
