Alive & Kicking
This project's parent organization is Alive & Kicking UK
It operates in Kenya, South Africa, Zambia
It uses Football (Soccer), Volleyball, Netball
Entered the Sport for Education Award
More about Alive & Kicking
Alive & Kicking takes an innovative and entrepreneurial approach to addressing Children’s right to play and to health. The project manufactures hand stitched sports balls, branded with health awareness messages, for donation to children in underprivileged communities in Africa. Alive & Kicking operates from stitching centres in Kenya, Zambia and South Africa, which have created over 150 jobs and have produced over 180,000 balls.
Every ball produced carries a health awareness message, designed for teachers and sports coaches to use as a prompt to speak to children about how to stay healthy. In addition, Alive & Kicking has created a series of health awareness posters targeting children and featuring African sports stars. Recipient organisations of the balls include schools, youth clubs, orphanages, and street children initiatives. Balls are also distributed at Alive & Kicking football tournaments where preventive health education is given by A&K trained HIV peer educators and by partner organisations.
Alive & Kicking is structured so that each stitching centre should be financially sustainable on balls bought for donation. The balls are paid for by individuals, trusts, corporates, state bodies and international organisations for donation to children’s projects and for use in their own sport and development initiatives.