Schoolboy receives rousing support for Rugby Recycled
A DHS school boy has made a difference in underpriviledged rugby players' lives by donating them rugby kits.
WHAT started as a small-scale school community initiative by Durban schoolboy Gareth Simpson, has ballooned into a project that has gained the backing of the Cell C Sharks, Discovery SharkSmart as well as the Springboks.
The Durban High School pupil restores old rugby kit in order to distribute these to underprivileged schools in the Durban area.
“The Sharks recently donated over 40 boxes of kit which I have nearly finished sorting and which will help about 15 schools and clubs. The Sharks brand is massive and just having them endorse Rugby Recycled is huge!” said Simpson.
“I am blown away by them supporting me. I hope that we might also be able to have a second hand rugby boot collection day at one of the home Currie Cup games because this will reach many more people than I have been able to before, and everyone wants to support things at The Sharks,” he said.
The Rugby Recycled initiative started in 2011 after Simpson noticed that the teams that he played against from the townships were unable to play in boots. Following his decision to start the campaign he received immediate backing from his parents, his school and his coach.
“I was the U14A rugby captain and we were playing our fixtures against development sides. All boys at DHS are expected to complete some hours doing community work and when I saw boys from some of the township and rural areas playing rugby without rugby boots I realised how fortunate I was and knew that I wanted to help rugby players for my community hours. I asked my parents if they thought I would be able to collect second hand boots from rugby players at school and at the Rugby Club where my dad coached and they thought it was a great idea. I asked school if I would be able to do it and they were very happy. My rugby coach, Mr Marc Adam, was very supportive and Rugby Recycled was born,” Simpson said.
The project built up a head of steam and continued to grow until they made their first delivery in 2012. Simpson said that after distributing the kit to children who had never owned kit before made him realise that Rugby Recycled was something he wanted to grow.
He said the project has grown a lot more than he initially thought it would with some overseas rugby clubs also coming on board as well as local clubs.
“The whole thing has grown much bigger than I ever imagined! Our garage at home is always full of things for the next delivery. We now get support from two rugby clubs in the UK where my dad used to play rugby. These are Jersey Rugby Club and Alcester Rugby Club in England. In 2013 we also decided to distribute the even bigger donation of things we had through Ntso at The Sharks Development department so that a bigger group of rugby players could benefit. We now also have so much more support with most of the local rugby clubs supporting us,” he added.
Seeing an initiative like this grow over the past three years is a reward in itself but Simpson explains that seeing the players out on the pitch in the kit that he has provided is the most rewarding part of doing what he does.
Simpson has big plans for Rugby Recycled and he hopes that the concept will grow into a worldwide initiative but he is aiming on spreading the idea countrywide first. With these big plans he hopes to get people from other countries involved in helping him grow his project.
“I am going to continue with this after school and after rugby season. When exams have finished I am planning on contacting more clubs and schools overseas as I have contacts in the UK, New Zealand and Australia,” he said.
Simpson has been nominated as a candidate for the LeadSA hero of the month.
Visit the Rugby Recycled Facebook page or follow them on Twitter @rugby_recycled or on the Discovery SharkSmart website www.sharksmart.co.za
