A BRADFORD-based charity which passes on donated sports shoes, boots and trainers to pass on to disadvantaged children in the district has received a £10,000 lottery grant.

Action for Sport has been awarded the cash by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.

The charity has been co-founded by Clive Michallat, who has been a scout with the Bantams for more than 15 years, and Andrew Kenure and started up in March last year. The charity's donations of football boots or trainers are given to children to use for their own sporting activity.

Mr Kenure said: “Without National Lottery players, projects like ours couldn’t exist.

"Clive and I have made huge personal sacrifices to get this project up and running but, without the funding, we couldn’t continue.

 

"Everything we do, from getting the boots cleaned to paying our insurances costs money and we couldn’t cover all those costs ourselves.

"The funding will also enable us to branch out into other areas of Bradford that we haven’t worked in yet and hopefully start going into secondary schools too.”

“And it’s a real ‘sliding doors’ moment because you think, what would that boy’s life be like if he hadn’t got those boots?

"Would he have developed diabetes down the line or ended up getting into trouble as a teenager? The impact on children’s lives of getting them involved in sport really cannot be underestimated.”

Mr Michallat said: “Recently we went into a school and a parent approached us and said: ‘You just don’t know the power of what you do. My son is like a different child when he pulls those football boots on. His confidence has increased, he’s joined a local team and he’s making more friends and mixing with lots of different people.’”

Joe Dobson, head of funding for Yorkshire and Humber at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, this vital funding will have a huge impact on young people’s lives across Bradford.

“The last year has been incredibly challenging for communities and we applaud the volunteers and groups that have been a lifeline to so many.

"As we all look to the future, we’re excited to see how local groups will use this funding to further support their communities to prosper and thrive.”

To donate any old children’s-sized sports shoes, email info@actionforsport.com, or to donate go to peoplesfundraising.com/donation/action-for-sport