Coleg Menai donates football kits to Burundi children via Annie’s Orphans
Sports hall supervisor Jamie Jones arranged for the strips to be given to the Bangor charity, which provides a home and schooling for orphaned ‘street boys’ in the central African country
Children in Burundi are playing football in Coleg Menai kits thanks to staff member Jamie Jones and charity Annie’s Orphans.
Jamie, a sports hall supervisor at the Llangefni campus, arranged for the college strips to be donated after previously doing the same with local football club kits.
The kits were taken by Annie’s Orphans to Burundi, where the charity provides a home, food, schooling and medical care for orphaned ‘street boys’.
So while many children across the world are wearing Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United shirts, young fans in Burundi are sporting the colours of Coleg Menai, Welsh Colleges Sport, Llangefni Town and Llannerch-y-medd.
Jamie had the idea when Llangefni Town were changing their kit a few years back, after talking to Annie’s Orphans assistant director George Benjamin.
He said: “I was volunteering with Llangefni Town as community development officer at the end of 2021, and we had 500 spare kits. So I contacted different places to see if they wanted them.
“Then I came across Annie’s Orphans. I spoke to George a couple of times and dropped off a load of Llangefni kits. They were thrilled with them, and it was good to know that the kits were going to be reused.”
When the time came for Coleg Menai’s football team to change their kit at the end of last season, Jamie knew Annie’s Orphans would welcome the donation. He dropped them off with the charity, and the kits have since been flown to Central Africa.
“It’s class,” said Jamie. “It’s cool to think you’re sending kits on to a place where they might be more used to seeing the shirts of teams like Barcelona, United, Bayern Munich, Juventus. Instead the kits have got the names of local pubs and businesses in Llangefni - it has a different feel.”
Annie’s Orphans was founded in 1997 by Reverend Pauline Edwards to raise money for an orphanage in India.
Since then, the charity has built and funded orphanages, schools and colleges in India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Burundi and beyond, changing the lives of thousands of children.
Having started with one shop on Bangor High Street, Annie’s Orphans now has 16 shops across the UK, which raise money to build new schools and pay for teaching, electricity and other essentials in developing countries.
The charity started the Burundi Street Children project in 2013, providing a home for boys who would otherwise have to scavenge to stay alive.
Ten of the boys have since graduated from university with degrees including computer science and electrical engineering, while another has trained as a bishop thanks to a scholarship funded by Annie’s Orphans.
The charity has also built two primary schools in Burundi, and is continuing its work with the next generation of street boys.
Reverend Pauline Edwards said: “We’ve got 22 boys in a house so we’ve sent the football kits to them. They’re all mad about football, so it’s awesome, they can’t believe it.
“But education’s the way to push them forward, and they’re very serious about their education. We pay for teachers, that’s where most of the money goes - we’ve got to keep that coming.”
Another major project for Annie’s Orphans is in Pakistan, where the charity has built 22 schools to help the children of brick kiln slaves escape lives of servitude.
For more information about the work of Annie’s Orphans, or to donate, visit anniesonline.org.uk