Working today for Zambia's tomorrow

ZST Christmas Appeal 2025

This Christmas, please help us bring joy to children in Zambia. Many dream of a real ball but play with makeshift balls. Your gift of footballs or netballs will inspire teamwork, confidence, and hope. Give the gift of play - turn dreams into reality.

“Scraps of cloth and bits of string”

Our Christmas Appeal this year is to raise funds for our Footballs and Netballs Project. For many children in Zambia, a real leather football is just a dream. But football is a hugely popular sport, and children often use materials such as old pieces of cloth and plastic bags tied up with string to make “balls” to play with.

The Zambia Society Trust has for many years donated footballs and netballs to community schools through ZOCS (Zambia Open Community Schools) and directly to schools and other organisations in Zambia. This year we purchased 85 netballs and 85 footballs. But the need is huge and the benefits life-changing. Ideally, we would like to provide more. ZOCS delivers quality education to vulnerable children across Zambia, supporting over 240,000 learners in more than 1,285 community schools - that gives you an idea of just how many balls could make a difference.

The groups we work with say that giving youngsters a real leather ball does more than enable play - it improves school attendance, helps them work better with others, boosts their confidence, and builds social skills. Being part of a team also gives them a sense of belonging.

Many vulnerable children and teens face tough challenges like stress, anxiety, depression, and poverty. Playing sport can really lift their spirits and help them handle their mental health better. It also keeps them active and healthy, gives them something positive to focus on, and steers them away from things like substance abuse, self-harm, crime, and other harmful behaviours.

Your support also creates a ripple effect. The balls are manufactured in Lusaka by Alive and Kicking, a social enterprise that employs vulnerable adults, many of whom are disabled, providing jobs they would otherwise struggle to find. The balls are hard-wearing, designed for hard surfaces, proven to last up to eight times longer than other brands and can be repaired to extend their life.

“The school has a total number of 478 learners, with one worn out soccer ball. Learners have to take turns to play or else they'd improvise a ball by rolling up scraps of cloth and bits of string. The trouble has always been that the older learners tend to get all the ball time, while most of the other children never get near it’.” Headteacher at Kawama Community School Kabwe.

"I felt like I've got a bit more skillful just because of the new ball. I'm young and up until now I hardly got the chance to get a touch. Now I want to practice with this new ball, so I can improve." Learner Bweengwa Community School Monze District.

With your help, the Zambia Society Trust can transform lives – one football or netball at a time. Thank you.