“In the Northern Territory, we have a variety of programs but our main focus in is to help families in need. The families that we work with are mostly referred to us via government agencies and we help to strengthen their capacity, and for a vast majority of families a little help and support over a 6-12 month period. The gear that we receive from organisations through Kit Bag For Kids is absolutely fantastic, the families adore getting new clothing, particularly of the quality which is received. Many of our families have almost nothing in terms of clothing, furniture and other household and basic living items that many in the Western world take for granted. Location and cost alone is an enormous obstacle. For example, the nearest shopping centre is 500km away and a majority of the road is dirt. During the wet season, the roads are non-accessible, this may occur from December through to April. The community gets a feeling of empowerment when they are able to access quality clothing items, we offer washing and drying facilites free of charge which helps enormously with the longevity of what they receive. We work with proud people, who value family dearly

Mt Allan School is in Yuelamu, an indigenous community 300km NW of Alice Springs, with around 70 students enrolled from Transition up into High School. The School’s wonderful classroom teacher contacted KBFK to seek support for their up and coming girls AFL team and the school students more generally. We were delighted to be able to help. “Hi Kit Bag For Kids, Thanks again for the football Guernseys. The students absolutely love them, they look amazing and it makes umpiring much easier! The girls have been able to collaborate as one team with pride and feel important. We are able to get students who rarely participate in sport, joining in now. Our young girls football team are up and coming, training in the morning with school and playing inter community matches on the weekend with sport and rec. Having a uniform will inspire the girls and allow them to take pride in their team.” Elodie, Classroom Teacher

The team at KBFK has been working for a few months to pull together sports kits, trainers, water bottles and sports bags for a large group of students about to head off on a one week camp from a cluster of schools near Ilfracombe, QLD. The Principal at the largest School has been great to work with and it was fantastic to receive feedback and photos this week. Donations came from many groups but in particular we want to recognise Coogee Boys Prep. Who would have thought their school colours would complement the local footy team. “Hi KBFK, Camp is fast approaching and I just wanted to share some happy faces and feet of my kids here at Ilfracombe who have already got some of their clothes. This week end our local football team is in the grand finals we always like to show our support and today all the children could participate by wearing their blue and yellow (our team colours) and they all felt like they were Scorpion team members. So THANKS whilst these may seem like small things to some to my community suffering from the affects of long term drought it means so much.” Jo, Principal,

KBFK received a donation of super smart kits from North Sydney United FC. These shirts and shorts were among the smartest we have seen and just had to find a home at a soccer loving school. So we were pleased to enlist the help of our friend Dillon, a sports coordinator for NT schools. Dillon gave out the soccer strips to a school situated 300km away from Alice Springs. The main community is Arlparra which is 55km away where there is a high school, store and a police station, sport & rec centre and a main community oval.The photo was taken at the Arlparra high school as all the surrounding four homeland schools came in for an Athletics carnival. Dillon had been talking to the principal earlier in the term and he was telling her how much the students love soccer and how he was teaching them all the rules and watching some of the A league together. They are really looking forward to the world cup. The homelands schools have interschool competitions each term and the Irrultra students will wear their North Sydney United strip when competing in the soccer comp.

“In PE we are really excited to have made links with Kit Bag For Kids who are donating 80 shirts free of charge for our pupils. We have a hockey tournament at Mount Isa in November where we are going to use these fabulous kits.” Marc Stirling, Teacher

“Once again the kids thought these shirts were fantastic, they really liked the colours and the older ones loved the little nicknames on the back. The kids were asking me where Mosman is and have stated there own little investigations into the place and people and so forth. Even the sponsors got the attention of the kids. The older kids really appreciated these shirts because they are good quality and it is something that they feel proud wearing, especially when they are away at boarding schools around the country. As we speak there are all these fantastic Mosman shirts running around the Nauiyu community, they absolutely stand out and the kids love them. Thanks again KBFK, you are doing a great thing.” Gavin, Nauiyu, NT

Great to hear from our good friends in far North Queensland. It is nice to see kids in remote communities getting joy from these tremendous soccer kits donated by clubs in the Sydney area. The PE Department are really happy to continue our links with Kit Bag For Kids Limited this year. They provide hundreds of free kits for our ‘Athlete of the Week’ rewards. The student’s are thrilled with the kits.” Marc Sterling, PE Department