Rovers supporter Leonard Ankonum took old Rovers training kits to Africa to give children in the Ghanaian fishing village Takoradi the chance to play football.
The kits were donated by the Club Doncaster Academy (CDA) who had surplus supplies of playing and training kits from previous seasons many of which had never been worn.
Leonard was inspired to do something after a visit to Takoradi in March 2019. He’d only called by to collect a lobster but while there came across a group of 30 children playing with a dead snake. It transpired that they had caught the snake earlier in the day in order to provide some entertainment.
Some months later, with a second trip to Ghana planned, Leonard reached out to a number of local companies to help him make a difference to the village.
Leonard said: “I thought to myself, there has got to be a better and safer way of entertaining themselves than killing a snake.
“I spoke with my partner Amelia and asked if we could do anything she said she would ask if anyone had any kids clothes that they did not want. I called two very good friends of mine Augustus and Sophia who have a small bar in Accra to see if they would take me to the village to deliver the clothes. They agreed to do it without hesitation.”
With basic clothes sorted, Leonard wondered if it might be possible to take football kits and footballs for the children too.
Leonard added: “I thought where do I start? Football strips don’t come cheap so I donned my begging cap and called Doncaster Rovers, a club I have followed since being a small boy, and came straight out with what I wanted to do.
“To be honest, I thought it would be turned down but a few days later I was absolutely elated when I got a return email from Matt saying he was able to help.
“I was blown away with the generosity of Rovers with the kits that they gave us. It was amazing. I can't thank them enough. I’d also like to thank KLM who provided us with extra luggage space for free in order to take the kits and clothes there was a lot of happy people in the village last week.”
Matt Webb Club Doncaster academy assistant manager added: “When Leonard reached out to us we were more than happy to help out and donate as much kit as we could. It was great to the see the pictures he sent back to us and great to see the kit put to good use. The work Leonard has done for the community in Takoradi is amazing and if we can help out in any way in the future we will.”