We were delighted to be able to donate our old football kit to pupils of Rugarama Primary School in Uganda. The kit was taken over to Africa by Rebecca Bone, the Headteacher of Winterslow Primary School which is linked to Rugarama Primary School through the British Council Connecting Classrooms programme.

Pupils at Rugarama Primary School have never had a matching sport kit before and are very proud of their new strip and excited to play their next football and netball matches.

FULL STORY
Clarendon Juniors Football Club, based in Winterslow, donated their surplus football kit to Winterslow Primary School which is linked to Rugarama Primary School in Uganda through the British Council Connecting Classrooms programme.

This link was established through local charity Project Uganda and their existing in-country links. In February, Rebecca Bone and Sonja Mawdsley visited Rugarama following on from a previous successful visit in 2015. The link between the two schools is a professional partnership which aims to encourage children to be global citizens, break down stereotypes and to share teaching skills. It is an important educational link which demonstrates the differences between the schools but, most importantly, it highlights how similar the children are – they share the same values, hopes for the future and, according to Mrs Bone, playtime in both locations is identical!

In Uganda, football is the most popular sport by far, but not many government schools can afford footballs, never mind football kits. When a football punctures, it is common for pupils to make balls out of wrapped up plastic bags. On looking at his pupils dressed in their new matching football kit Johnson Kyarimpa, Headteacher of Rugarama Primary School, remarked: “It is a proud moment to see the children dressed in matching kit. I am so excited that I can’t wait for the next match!”

Mrs Bone commented that she is very thankful to the Clarendon Juniors Football Club for the kit and parents for the classroom resources. Martyn Moody, Vice Chairman of Clarendon said “The boys and girls of Clarendon Juniors are very pleased to have made such an impact on the school lives of the pupils of Rugarama. We wish them every joy and success with their football, netball and other sporting pursuits”.

Notes
During 1998/99, meetings were held to discuss how the villages of Winterslow and Firsdown would celebrate the forthcoming Millennium. The charity, Project Uganda, was originally set up in 2000 as a project aimed at raising funds for Uganda, over a five year period.

However, it is still going strong today due to the passion and dedication of the committee and the support they receive locally and regionally. Due to the already strong links between the Winterslow area and Uganda, Mrs Bone and her team at Winterslow Primary School were keen to link with a school in Uganda. The first visit took place in 2015, when 300 blue school dresses were taken over for the pupils.

In 2015 Johnson Kyarimpa and his Deputy, Richard Mwegsigma, came to Winterslow Primary School to share their knowledge and teaching skills and so the link between the two schools began, and it has been flourishing ever since.
Website: http://projectuganda.org.uk/home
Email: info@projectuganda.org.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Project-Uganda-386337304809764/

For more information, please contact:
Rebecca Bone, Headteacher, Winterslow Primary School Tel: 01980 863 446 Email admin@winterslow.wilts.sch.uk

Paul Russell, Press Officer Clarendon Juniors Football Club paul.russell@clarendonjuniorsfc.co.uk http://www.clarendonjuniorsfc.co.uk/

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