Boot-iful gift for Rossendale students' African pen pals (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Boot-iful gift for Rossendale students' African pen pals

4:00pm Friday 16th November 2012 in News

BOOTS Kilele Junior School, Nairobi

CHILDREN at an African school are being given a sporting chance thanks to pupils at a Rossendale school who have donated their old football boots.

The youngsters at St Mary’s Primary School, in Haslingden Old Road, Rawtenstall, have been in contact with a school in Nairobi for around three years.

After discovering that the students at Kilele Junior School didn’t have their own football boots, they have collected around 20 to 30 old pairs to be shipped out to Kenya.

St Mary’s headteacher Ian Holden said: “Through writing to the students at Kilele, our students found out that while they all loved to play football, they didn’t have much of their own equipment and things like boots.

“So our students decided they would donate old pairs of boots that they no longer used, or had grown out of, and would send them to Kilele, so that the children there could now play football in their own boots.

“The staff helped out a bit, but it was something that the students across all year groups decided they wanted to do.”

Students at the two schools have been writing letters to each other for around three years. Mr Holden added: “It is something that I think really benefits the students, and has a lot of curriculum advantages.

“It is great for them to learn about other countries and cultures, and it also improves communication and literacy skills.”

The boots have now been collected, and a parcel created ready to be shipped to Kenya, which should be sent in the next few weeks.