Football 'Kitmas' appeal for disadvantaged children

Paul Watson said the idea came after he found some brand new shirts he "didn't have a home for"

Football fans are being asked to gift their shirts and spare cash to disadvantaged children this Christmas.

Founded by Paul and Lizzie Watson in Stroud, the charity Kitmas distributed 1,000 kits last year.

They said with increased financial worries, they feared some children would be left without presents to open.

Mr Watson said getting a new football shirt "is a real highlight" and "the vast majority of parents must be priced out" of buying one.

He told BBC Radio Bristol the idea came after he found some brand-new, left-over shirts he "didn't have a home for".

"I send football kits all around the world to projects that need it - usually it's to countries in Africa, even in the Pacific Islands" he added.

However, with a "lot of families struggling at the moment" he thought community groups locally "may get more use out of them" by redistributing them to children from poorer households.

Lizzie Watson pictured with James Healey of Kits to Kids - one of the benefactors of the shirts

Mr Watson contacted community groups, who were so happy to take them, they asked if he had any more.

"We started sort of thinking, I wonder if we could collect 100 shirts and then it sort of snowballed from there."

'Something special'

Mr Watson, a Bristol City Football fan, said he only really started thinking about the cost of shirts last year when he was looking for his two young sons.

"They were just beyond any reasonable price," he added.

Paul Watson dropping off shirts to Stacey Brayshaw from Gloucestershire Bundles - who provide emergency toiletries, clothing and equipment to pregnant women and families

Mr Watson said: "There's something really sad about a child supporting a club, loving a club and not even being able to wear that club's football shirt.

"It feels really wrong to me.

"That feeling of getting one, it's something really special."

The money donated to Kitmas will go towards buying as many shirts as they can. Those, along with the shirts donated, are then distributed to community centres across the UK.

So far, they've raised more than £19,000.

Find about more about the Kitmas campaign on Points West on BBC One in the West, Tuesday 7 December at 18:30 GMT.