• Swindon & Wiltshire Community champions
• Thursday March 2 2023
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Sports marketing agency Gift of Kit giving away £200,000 of kit to female teams in wake of Lionesses’ triumph

Sports marketing agency Gift of Kit has sealed a £200,000 deal with Starling Bank to supply more than 180 women’s and girls’ football teams with sponsored kit, equipment and coaching to help them meet the demand sparked by England’s Euros triumph.

Co-founder Jonathan Green said the Chippenham-based company, which brings together high-profile brands with grassroots sport to help clubs earn free kit, is helping clubs and schools capitalise on the rapid growth in the female game since the England Lionesses won the Euros last summer.

“We are very proud to be working with a high-profile client like Starling Bank, they are really passionate about supporting the women’s and girls’ game,” he said.

The Kick On with Starling promotion, which ran in early February, attracted clubs from all over the UK to enter. The 188 clubs who were drawn out can now go to an online portal to choose match kit and equipment. They will also receive a voucher for free training for coaches from their nation’s football association.

“We did a survey of 1,000 clubs on our database in November and asked if they had seen an increase in the number of girls wanting to play football and more than 70 per cent said yes,” said Jonathan.

“We asked them what the biggest barrier was to providing football through growing existing teams or starting new ones and 72 per cent of clubs said it was affording kit and 56 per cent said it was also buying equipment. Another 31 per cent said it was funding coaching courses for their volunteer coaches.

“We are thrilled that this promotion is helping clubs overcome all of those barriers and the fact that more than 1,000 clubs entered shows how vital a promotion like this is.”

Former England star Jill Scott, who retired after last summer’s triumph, supported the promotion and launched the initiative at Astley & Tydlesley Women’s FC.

Gift of Kit works in football with brands such as Just Eat, Sky Sports and Octopus Energy but it has also run promotions with Land Rover in Rugby, Kia in cricket and other programmes with sports ranging from bowls to darts with the Peoples Postcode Lottery.

“Our recent campaigns have been focused on supporting the increased participation in women’s and girls’ football because this is where the least amount of funding and coaches are,” said Jonathan.

“This is the biggest programme we’ve ever put together that is entirely focused on the women’s and girl’s game and Starling are the perfect partner so we are delighted.”

Pictured: European Championship-winning Lioness Jill Scott, centre, supporting Gift of Kit’s £200,000 kits, equipment and coaching giveaway with Starling Bank