By Griff
January 3 2007

SOS IRB Kit Aid is a very worthy rugby charity. They collect unwanted old kit in good condition an distribute it in countries that need a hand to get rugby going at grass-roots. A collection of kit will be held at the MadStad on 13th January - the Toulouse HC fixture.

Get Your Kit Off with London Irish

SOS - WINNERS OF 2003 IRB DEVELOPMENT AWARD !
WELCOME TO THE AWARD WINNING SOS iRB KIT AID PROJECT

PROUDLY INCORPORATING
* SOS ROMANIA * SOS GEORGIA * SOS MOLDOVA * SOS BULGARIA * SOS CZECH REPUBLIC * SOS POLAND * SOS UKRAINE *SOS CROATIA * SOS RUSSIA * SOS SERBIA MONTENEGRO

London Irish have kindly agreed to run a 'Kit Collection Day' on Saturday 13th January 2007, for the match Vs Toulouse in the Heineken Cup. This has been co-ordinated with Zoe Mathieson & Philippos Kyriacou.

WHAT IS SOS iRB KIT AID?

SOS simply collects unwanted/outgrown rugby kit from 1000+ (and growing) UK rugby schools/clubs/kit manufacturers and referees' societies.

We then send it, with the help of the IRB, via bona fide country rugby federations to help the development of junior rugby in less advantaged countries by kitting out youngsters in Romania, Georgia and Moldova. They have hundreds of boys/girls desperate to play rugby but with an average wage of only £60 per month their parents simply cannot afford the kit.

WHY HAVE SOS IRB KIT AID?

• Is it because of inspirational boys like Ioniut Simion, captain of the RC Zimbri U/12's who often walks seven miles to play rugby?
• Is it because of the Moldovan headmistress who said that she only had one class in her school who played rugby - but they were the best behaved, best disciplined and to cap it all had the best exam results? (Next year there will be three classes playing rugby - wonder why...)

It is all of these things plus :-

1. The desire to improve children's lives/health in less advantaged countries through the sheer joy of playing sport.
2. To make rugby a truly global (Olympic) sport and a more widely based RWC

SOS reached the land mark of £1M worth of collections made at the end of 2006.

HOW CAN YOU HELP ?

Simply bring along any unwanted kit to the MadStad when you come to the Toulouse match. There will be two collection points:

1. Outside the Megastore
2. Adjacent to the 'Kids Zone' area

Collectors will be wearing the distinctive SOS IRB Kit Aid Logo together with the bright red boot barrels.

WHAT KIT DO WE NEED?

• (ALL SIZES From 8 to 18 YEAR OLDS)


• CLEAN rugby shirts (preferably in team sets)
• CLEAN rugby shorts/socks (PREFERABLY IN TEAM SETS)
• CLEAN RUGBY BOOTS (preferably with 99% studs in) from sizes 4 to 11
• CLEAN rugby balls/ball bags
• CLEAN rugby tracksuits
• CLEAN rugby head/shoulder protectors
• CLEAN rugby tackle bags/pads
• CLEAN rugby wet tops/bottoms
• CLEAN training tops
• CLEAN Training cones

Even if you can't bring any kit on the day please visit their website and see what you can do to help this worthy cause.

If you need any further encouragement have a look at some of the "celebs" backing them...