The donation drive that became a movement: If anyone's got any kit, we're taking some to Tanzania'

A footballer’s family tradition of donating boots and kit to schoolchildren in Tanzania expanded into a major movement. A 13-year-old post about offering spare Chelsea academy kit led to many responses and an initial shipment of at least 100 items to children at a school. A decade later, the player collects and sorts more than 1,000 items gathered from players, fans, and coaches within a month. The goal is equal opportunity to experience football regardless of income, background, gender, or religion. The player’s Tanzanian family roots connect the donations to visits with relatives in Dar es Salaam and northern areas near Kilimanjaro. The growing scale has prompted efforts to register a charity.

"It began with a social media post from a 13-year-old playing in Chelsea's academy who wanted to offer spare kit to people less fortunate than herself. A decade on Malaika Meena, an established WSL2 player, finds herself shifting through more than 1,000 items collected from players, fans or coaches in the past month alone, as her family tradition of donating football boots and kit to schoolchildren in Tanzania has blossomed into a movement larger than anything she could have imagined."

"For me it's all about resource allocation, the Bristol City midfielder says. It's not about trying to save Tanzania' or anything like that, but just about trying to give an equal opportunity to everybody. Football's a sport that's given me so much and given me so many experiences and I want everyone to be able to experience that the joy of playing football. It should be a sport that everybody can enjoy, no matter where you're from, your income or background, whether you're a boy, girl, whatever religion."

"Meena was born in England and raised just west of London but her parents were born in Tanzania and when the 23-year-old visits family in the country she usually stays with her grandma, who lives in Dar es Salaam, though her mum's side of the family are from a more rural area in the north-east nearer to Kilimanjaro. The family have always tried to make charitable donations of football boots but Meena's successful career has raised the profile of the operation dramatically, to the extent that she is trying to register a charity."

"I just put a post out 10 years ago, on my Instagram, asking: If anyone's got any kit, we're going to take some to Tanzania,' and I got so many more messages than I thought I would! the England youth international says. At that time we went with at least 100 items and we gave them to a lot of the kids at one of the schools. I'm quite lucky now that I've got a little bit of a platform where I know so many diffe"

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