Shropshire airmen on football tour to Kenya
A group of Airmen from RAF Shawbury have completed the initial days of their football tour to Kenya. The squad departed Shropshire on Saturday 11 June to travel, via Heathrow airport, to Nairobi in Kenya.
The visit is designed to allow the team to play 2 full length organised fixtures whilst also completing a dozen deliveries of football kits and other items through the RAF Shawbury based RAF ‘Taking football the Africa and beyond’ appeal.
The appeal is run by Sqn Ldr Neil Hope and has to date delivered over 41500 items, including over 17500 football shirts to 34 countries worldwide, with by far the most ending up in Kenya. Flt Lt Richard Kinniburgh, the RAF Shawbury Officer in charge of football decided to organise the Kenya tour in association with Neil and the appeal.
On arrival in Nairobi the group were immediately shown the difficulties of driving through the capital with crashes, road congestion and smog affecting the journey to Braeburn Garden Estate International School. The team are being accommodated at the school through the assistance of the Headmaster, John Herbert, and Megan Wright, who Neil has worked with through her running of the Mogra Academy, in Mathare Slum. The team arrived just in time to don their England kits to play in the school’s mini World Cup tournament. An early defeat to Japan North, followed by draws against Israel and Iraqistan saw the team progress
into the Plate competition. The players were clearly struggling with the heat and altitude. In the plate they beat Spain with 2 late gaols before losing out to the host nation, Kenya, in the semi-finals.
On day 2 of the visit the squad travelled out 120kms towards Mombasa to make deliveries at the Athi River Secondary School, including a game of football (which they lost) before moving on to Kyawango and Kangii Primary Schools for more deliveries and, at the latter, another game of football. At the schools the squad met many children and presented the schools with a huge amount of kits including some donated by Wolverhampton Wanderers, Barnet FC, the FA, Huntingdonshire FA and Sheffield & Hallamshire FA and school uniform from Hadnall Primary School near RAF Shawbury.
Sqn Ldr Hope said, "The visit is already proving to be a real eye opener for the Airmen but is something that they will never forget.
"It is absolutely brilliant to be able to bring the squad to Kenya to play football whilst also bringing football to the poor through donations from across the UK."
