It was clothing originally intended to be worn by Scotland’s top footballers but homeless people are now staying warm thanks to the work of an Arbroath philanthropist.
Lindsay Fraser (39), founder of the charity Kits for Kenya, was on the streets of Dundee last week distributing fleeces donated by the Scottish Football Association.
The sport’s governing body had offered the clothing to Mr Fraser’s charity after ordering too many of the items for first-team use.
But deciding that the garments were not suitable to be exported to Africa, the subsea engineer suggested he hand them out to some of Dundee’s most vulnerable people instead.
Preparing to distribute the items at a Bell Street soup kitchen, he said: ”I was given around 100 fleeces in total and I heard that as many as 35-40 people come here on any night.
”I contacted lots of clubs asking for strips to help Kits For Kenya. Willie Neil from the SFA kit room told me about the fleeces and while I couldn’t send those to Kenya I thought that the people here could probably do with them more.”
Kits for Kenya was founded by Lindsay and Swansea-based football coach Reeco Rees. Having been supported by the likes of former Celtic striker John Hartson, the charity exports football kit to players in Kenya, allowing them to play in a tournament that rewards good attendance at school.
Lindsay, a Celtic and Scotland fanatic, admits it was only a chance online encounter that started his charitable venture.
”I stumbled across a student on Twitter who was from Nairobi,” he said. ”He said he was organising a football tournament in an area called Miwani, which is very deprived, to help children with their school attendance.
”I have contacted clubs asking for kit that we can send out there and so far I’ve received backing from Celtic as well as the SFA.
”When you write off to these clubs you might expect to receive one full strip so it was totally unexpected when I was offered these fleeces. But I cannot thank Willie Neil at the SFA enough for his help it’s absolutely fantastic.”For more information visit www.kitsforkenya.co.uk