By Cornelius Ehimiaghe
Community Sport and Educational Development (CSED) Initiative has promised to equip and empower 3000 children, youth and secondary school students with the recently donated sports equipment by Lord’s Taverners, a frontline sports recycling charity, based in the United Kingdom (UK).
CSED Initiative is a sport for change Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) with a mission to use Nigerian children and youth participating in sports related activities to promote literacy and their social well-being. Its primary goal is to develop well balanced future sports men and women.
The NGO also aims at using sports to empower young persons to fulfil their potentials and achieve their dream of earning a living, while representing Nigeria in international sporting competitions.
Lord’s Taverners recently donated sports kits and equipment worth over N30 million to CSED which was warmly by the Trustees of CSED Initiative.
While receiving the donated items in their Niger Delta base, the National Coordinator of CSED Initiative assured the Project Manager of Lord’s Taverners, Dave Pemberton that the sports kits will be distributed for free to selected schools and vulnerable community groups such as Internally Displace Persons (IDPs) and asylum seekers/refugees.
Interestingly, they currently work with the CSED Initiative as well as new sets of schools and communities who will be expected to put the donated kit into good use.
It would be recalled that since 2019, this is the fifth batch of sports kits donation that Lord’s Taverners have successfully supported CSED Initiative with. In total, he NGO has received sports kits weighing over three thousand kilogrammes from Lord’s Taverners.
Notably, most of this batch of donated sport kits items are for cricket, netball, badminton, football, casual sportswear and tracksuits. Some of the prominent institutions that have benefitted from the kits that were donated by Lord’s Taverners in the past include Edo State Cricket Association, the cricket team of ABU Zaria, the cricket team of IDPs Uhogua, Cameroonian refugees in Ogoja (Cross River State).
In addition, some selected schools in Delta, Edo, Akwa Ibom and Taraba States have benefitted from the free cricket kits that were donated by Lord’s Taverners to CSED Initiative in recent times.
A representative of the CSED Initiative, who disclosed this while speaking with sports reporters, also stated that the new batch of donated equipment from Lord’s Taverners will enable their organization to train additional 300 Physical Education (P.E) Teachers this year.
“So, it is going to be a win-win situation for grassroots sports in the 2025fiscal year.” the representative said.
Meanwhile, in a recent email correspondence between a Trustee of CSED Initiative, a Project Manager of Lord’s Taverners, a representative of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) acknowledged the role the kits that Lord’s Taverners donated to CSED Initiative played in the development of some of the cricketers who recently played in the Nigerian female cricket team at the recently completed T20, U-19 Cricket World Cup in Malaysia.
Nine out of these fifteen cricketers are players from Edo State whose cricket Association received 250 kilogrammes of donated cricket kits from CSED Initiative in April 2019. Moreover, CSED have also donated cricket items to a cricket project that has supported the development of the two cricketers from Akwa Ibom State who featured for Nigeria in the Malaysian tournament.
Regrettably, CSED Initiative have been informed that the Lord’s Taverners sports kits recycling project is going to close in March 2025, as a result of financial constraint.
The National Coordinator of CSED Initiative said this news was a huge shock to them, and the sports recycling community all over the world.
As Lord’s Taverners has a global base of sports for change NGOs that they have supported in the past few decades. Though the organization was mainly set up as a cricket charity, it has over the years supported other sports at the grassroots level.
“We in CSED Initiative, will forever remain grateful for the support we have received from Lord’s Taverners. Especially in respect of the sport of netball. As they have supported us with balls, bibs, netball jerseys, T-shirts and skirts.
“These donated netball kits gave us the courage to strive to revive the game of netball in Nigeria through our ongoing: ‘Project 2027’ drive where we have trained and equipped more than 327 P.E. Techers and community leaders.”, the NGO further explained.
