African children have new football kit thanks to Chichester woman

Jemma Cottam, who plays for Chichester City’s ladies, completed two weeks of voluntary work in Mombasa where she helped teach the children and also introduced them to sports they had not played before.

Before embarking on the trip, Jemma, 20, did some fundraising so she could buy sports equipment including some footballs and goalkeeper’s gloves.

The Portsmouth University student said she had been planning the trip for a few months and then by coincidence learned that a friend was also planning a trip through the charity Friends of Mombasa Children.

As a result she decided to link up with the organisation and travel with the group to the Victory School, which was set up three years ago.

Jemma worked with a team of seven other volunteers, helping them study a range of subjects including German and art and leading a sports day for the children, which they enjoyed.

During the visit Jemma also visited an orphanage where she donated a football to the youngsters. The gift was welcomed with lots of smiles, as their football had gone flat and they spent the rest of the day kicking it around.

Back at Victory School, Jemma donated one of Chichester City’s old kits to the school, which the pupils wore with great pride, as they are the only team in their league to have their own kit.

“It was a really amazing experience, and I was really looking forward to it,” said Jemma. “We did lots of things with them, and we introduced them to games they have never played like rounders and all the sports equipment they had never seen before and they got really excited when we brought it out.

“I think the best thing about the trip was seeing a completely different culture and not what we are used to here.”

Jemma said she wanted to thank everyone who had helped make the donations of kit and equipment possible, including Chichester College, which sponsors Chichester City ladies’ team.

For more information about the charity www.mombasachildren.org.uk