Christmas Appeal 2025 Update – Still time to donate!
Thanks to your kind generosity we have raised over £2,500. Our appeal closes on 31 January if people still wish to donate so there is still an opportunity to 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. Please give the gift of play - turn dreams into reality.
“Scraps of cloth and bits of string”
Our appeal for Christmas 2025 is to raise funds for our Footballs and Netballs Project. For many children in Zambia, a real leather football is just a dream. Netball and football are hugely popular sports however children often use materials such as old pieces of cloth and plastic bags tied up with string to make “balls” to play with.
A netball or football cost £14.50. The balls are manufactured in their Lusaka workshop by Alive and Kicking a social enterprise employing adults from vulnerable job groups. They produce balls which are durable, designed for hard surfaces, proven to last up to eight times longer than other brands, and can be repaired to extend their lifespan.
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. In 2025 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 which are outside the state education system. This gives 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.
“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’.”
“I would like to appreciate you all for the donation of 6 footballs you sent to me for Tyankha boys academy. It’s really a good thing for me and the boys. It’s a motivation for us. May the Good Lord keep blessing you always. Whenever you are capable, please remember me with my boys so that the boys are diverted from substance abuse, criminal acts and self-injury. Football keeps these boys busy always. Once again, thanks so much.”
“I am very grateful for the balls which I received. They will go a long way in helping the youths in this community to exercise and live a healthy life. Also, when they are busy playing football and netball they will refrain from drugs and other bad habits since they will be busy.”
You can donate through JustGiving by clicking on the link below. If you prefer to donate by cheque, please make it payable to the Zambia Society Trust and send it to our Treasurer, Mr Andrew Rose, at: Croft House, Mungrisdale, Penrith, CA11 0XR. Please mark your envelope Footballs and Netballs. Thank you for your support.