Kitmas '25: the gift of football

Aim

Kitmas hopes to brighten the Christmas of many children in the UK, distributing football shirts to kids who may not otherwise receive gifts.

Sadly more families than ever before will struggle to afford gifts this Christmas. In fact, 1 in 6 parents and carers won't be able to afford presents for their children at all, an increase from 1 in 7 last year.

Any football fan has childhood memories of the excitement of pulling on a new kit, and Kitmas aims to spread that happiness around the country. Every shirt we send represents a child who we want to bring joy to this Christmas.

Three ways to get involved

There are three ways you can help brighten a child’s Christmas with a new football shirt this year.

1. DONATE MONEY

100% of donations will be used to buy and send new shirts that can be given to children on Christmas Day. The more money we can collect, the more shirts we can buy.

2. DONATE A SHIRT

Around the country hundreds of pre-loved football shirts will be sitting in cupboards and wardrobes once children have grown out of them. Kitmas will accept any football shirt in very good to 'like new' condition, just send them to us: Kitmas Appeal, PO Box 1763, Bedford, MK40 9HF.

3. CREATE A KITMAS AT YOUR CLUB

Any football fans clubs, supporters groups or community organisations can create their own version of Kitmas through Crowdfunder. You would need to buy and distribute your club's shirts in your community this Christmas. It's so simple to get started – please do contact us with any questions.

And, just as importantly as all three, please do help us spread the word about Kitmas to anyone you think might be interested in getting involved.

Who are we?

Kitmas was founded by football podcaster and activist Paul Watson and his wife Lizzie, with support from stand up comedians Vix Leyton and Mark Watson (Paul's brother). Our little ones Luca and Benji are very helpful too!

Since we started in 2020, the campaign has raised over £85,000 and distributed 6,000 shirts to young football fans through our relationships with community centres around the UK. 

So far, we have distributed to centres in London, Bristol, Stroud, Gloucester, Glasgow, Newcastle, Burnley, Brighton, Exeter, Belfast, Cheltenham, Leeds, Bedford, Glamorgan, Liverpool, Newquay, Hastings, Leicester, Nottingham and Norwich. 

This is our 6th year and we want to make an even bigger impact. We're so grateful for your support, and Merry Kitmas!

In the press

Kitmas has been featured heavily in the press in the past. Here is a selection of the coverage we received.

BBC News: Football 'Kitmas' plea for disadvantaged children 

The Independent: Football is failing kids – so I invented ‘Kitmas'     

The Mirror: Couple plan to give football shirts to 2,000 kids who may not receive Christmas gifts

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made