The revenues raised through Sports Traider will help children and kids across the country in the surrounding communities of our shops, get into sport. The accent will be on practical, grass-roots access for all, creating opportunities for those who would not normally have them.

That includes kids from disadvantaged backgrounds, children lacking traditional family support (including children in care), kids with disabilities, and kids from groups with low participation levels in sport.We will fund time on tennis courts, in swimming pools, gyms and other playing and training facilities.

As participants advance in skills, we will help them acquire the specialist kit they need – clothing, footwear, racquets, and so on. We will promote group sports for young people by funding team strips, transport to and from fixtures, coaching time and access to facilities. For the talented and dedicated, we will help them gain membership of clubs or training facilities to ensure they can keep up their progress. And for the most promising and disadvantaged young people, we will seek to fund bursaries to the best specialist centres and training academies – including facilities overseas.
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The story so far

How it works
Sports Traider was launched in Bedford in the Autumn of 2009.Through the support of Bedford Borough Council, Sports Traider has a shop in prime town retail space for the foreseeable future.Occupying two floors and over two thousand square feet, the shop is fitted out with key equipment.We acquire our stock – clothing, footwear, headgear, rackets and end-of-line garments and kit – through a number of channels.Since then, we have grown with shops in Watford, Luton and Leicester, with the opening of more stores across the country in the pipeline.

We have a number of permanent collection points, our recycling banks our strategically placed in local areas to our shops and are all branded with the Sports Traider logo.Local sports brands and retail outlets are invited to donate surplus, end-of-line or seconds stock directly.We also ask local schools and sports centres to get involved, because we believe that kids will jump at the chance to help their peers. On designated days, pupils will be invited to bring their unwanted or outgrown kit into school for subsequent collection.Through these different routes we are confident we will have enough kit to keep the stores well stocked and turning over.