Well Well well, a pinch yourself of a 6 months and one hell of a year for Lockerstash. We have had just like everyone a year of massive adversity as a a small business, our first proper premises, an apprentice joining the ranks, repurposing shirts for internationals, another professional club joining the ranks in Ealing trailfinders to top off 56 clubs signing up to become more sustainable. These are but a few big moments taking place for us in 2021. Needless to say we are proud we are here to fight another year on and another year to grow and build a more environmentally friendly planet and better support for vulnerable clubs, adults and children within community sport for 2022. For more insight please look at the photos below and if you or your club have a desire to get involved with lockerstash please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Well Well Well, what a summer it has been for Lockerstash, From Professional Football Clubs to Fijian Festivals and From Torquay Rugby club to Transformed Teddy bears Lockerstash has had it all from June to September. Lockerstash is proud in this period to have amassed 25 new partnerships, attended 11 new festivals, traveled over 14 thousand miles and has helped to recycled over another 6500 thousand items of Pre-loved sportswear. Being honest due to our limited resources we cannot cover and note every moment as there is simply not the time. However, the reaction of the rugby community to our work has been phenomenal and we promise to our faithful we will not stop here and aim to keep pushing to make grassroots and professional sport a more environmentally friendly place. To find out more about these partnerships, Head over to our partnerships sections of the website, alternatively head over to our Facebook or Instagram, pages for regular updates.
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The Lockerstash Team descended on Gosport to take part in a sustainable stash day with The Royal Navy Rugby Sevens Team. The day involved the presentation of stash to players in exchange for donating all old surplus kit the service personel had to offset their carbon. Going forward the squad were very interested to hear how the money is reinvested and what good their one small change was doing to the planet. And of course their token photo shoot too.
A trip up to Wales on Friday provided an insight onto another fresh chapter with our sustainability partners the Welsh Warriors 7's. Lockerstash Have agreed to sponsor the warriors next 7's season and in exchange gratefully recieved the odds and ends of nearly 20 years of 7's campaigns. Lockerstash were delighted and cannot wait to build upon our functional Sustainability journey as partners.
Guy And Neil, Pictured above, met in April 2021 to discuss Lockerstash's new role in helping to meet the demand of Warrington's sustainably minded team. With the world Cup on the horizon Promising discussions see us hopefully linking up with the Halliwell Jones based team very soon.
A day with Eolas Plus's Eoghan Grace and the team proved extremely productive as Debbie and Guy talked to the Players, aged between 4 and 12, about Lockerstash and its work trying to instigate social change and allow the rugby players of the future to have an understanding of how simple things like sportswear can have a negative effect on the environment. All in all a great day and some stash rehomed too.
Last month Lockerstash Were fortunate to meet Headmaster of St Wilfrids School Exeter at an Event at Topsham RFC. Headmaster, Ross Bovingdon, also is the head coach of the Exeter based side and was elated when he found out we wanted to be involved. A quick tour of our premises and warehouse changed Ross's mindset on the orgnaisation and when asked had this to say. "Its not everyday you are left surprised in both a good and bad way, good as its great to see how well Lockerstash are progressing and growing into an organisation with a strong force for good but also in a bad way that as humans beings all of the kit they have would have been thrown away. Consequently, its been a very interesting insight". We are fortunate to help the school out in this way at Lockerstash and are hoping this partnership will only grow.
Pictured above, Guy And Gavin Slater from Peterborough United Community Trust. The trust Were able in their bid for sustainability and a more environmentally minded infrastructure for their academy to thrive on saw Peterborough donate over 500 items of Clothing. In exchange Lockerstash will be doing their upmost with the profits to support their new food bank initiative recently started by the trust.
Lockerstash were delighted to announce Redrail vintage as our first sustainable business to sign the acknowledgement agreement. Owner Matt was extremely excited by the opportunity to find a more ethical and sustainable place to rehome dead or unsaleable stock. In exchange, Lockerstash can welcome redrail vintage as a sustainability partner, an exciting and ethical USP for any growing enterprise.
Lockerstash were privileged to have a socially distanced visit to one of the UK's most up and coming rugby brands, Aramis. Whilst there the team had the opportunity to find out about their manufacture of their eco friendly scrum machines and the sustainably sourced Devon materials that go into making the equipment that has served the likes of the British and Irish Lions and Worcester Warriors. Whilst there we were also blessed with overwhelming generosity from Roshni, who was able to donate a considerable amount of company deadstock balls and clothing to help lockerstash reach more of the grassroots sport world and its players and make the sport more eco friendly and affordable to all. We also wish Ryan, the son of the company director , the best of luck in his fundraising pursuit. Selling rainbow balls, polos and facemasks , all designed by Ryan, have seen him raise of 7 thousand pounds for North devon hospice and NHS charities.
February was a particularly Cold month for the Uk and that was with the heating on and curtains drawn snuggled up in bed. So imagine how unbearable it must have been for those living on the streets, no shelter, no family , chilling frost and spine numbing winds. all of this with little interaction from passers by due to social distancing. Consequently when customer Andres got in touch from Croydon Nightwatch we did not hesitate to send out some supplies. in total 50 pairs of new socks were sent to be distributed by the Nightwatch team to the most vulnerable in the community. We are grateful to be of service but would be nothing if it was not for the infrastructure and volunteer hours put in to distribute such goods. For this we are humbled and entirely grateful and look forward to working with them further on into the future.
Lockerstash were waiting in trepidation with how The sustainability acknowledgement agreement was going to be met by the sports community. Consequently when the prestigious and highly renowned Colstons School got in touch pledging their allegiance, thrilled was somewhat of an understatement. After a few weeks of back and forth with sports technician and England deaf international Sam Fuller we were granted social distanced access to the site where we greeted with a shower of donated balls and a smiley-faced Sam with pen in hand to sign the agreement. Going forward, Colstons School will be looking forward to working alongside Lockerstash and pushing post Covid for some inclusive sustainability events.
After Launching our Sustainability Acknowledgement Agreement with the greater grassroots sports community Lockerstash has launched our educational sustainability sportswear webinar . The core principles this has been built upon is to educate and raise awareness surrounding the issues caused by the manufacture of sportswear on our grassroots and global community. After a steady start , our promotion was greeted by a flurry of responses. The first of seven events were 4 teams from the University of Bath, 10 teams from the University of Gloucester , SA Wilddogs, Birmingham FA, UWE Mens Rugby,Truro Colts and Truro girls.
After a prolonged period of no new ambassadors. we felt that it was now time to promote and show off the next generation's enthusiasm and talent for sport. This Time it was enthusiastic and professional young sportsmen Henry Lees that answered the call. The Tewkesbury based Worcester Warriors Academy player got in touch whilst ordering from the website and expressed his love of the website and the philosophies behind us as a C.I.C charity. After a brief discussion, Henry's infectious passion for the game of rugby union made him nothing more than a perfect candidate for the role. We look forward to working with Henry into the future and hope that the 15 year old will go from strength to strength in the game he loves.
Lockerstash are pleased to announce a community inclusion partnership stretching from October 2020 on wards with no end in sight. After 12 months of communication, a good deal of travelling and the small issue of a global pandemic, the lockerstash team were finally happy to see things heat up With the Dragons.
The initial conversation, started in October of 2019, saw Lockerstash tasked with Supporting Homeless Rugby C.I.C , a pre existing LSR partner, help fund a project Run in conjunction with the dragons for their homeless Provision. This saw us provide an initial bundle of Lockerstash t shirts and older stock from Lockerstash’s warehouse to the homeless of Gwent, ensuring they were able to train and play with no barriers. Since then, we’ve been able to provide the homeless side with kit to the sum in excess of five thousand pound for a homeless Rugby six nations style tournament, this would have also covered the running costs of the festival at Rodney Parade as well as bespoke kit for all players involved. Despite Covid-19 this plans to be rearranged and played in the June of 2021, including a potential testimonial game with international stars. Dragons also presented us with the Great opportunity to Sponsor the signwriting of Gareth’s Community inclusion vehicle allowing his pool van to be customized to the departments specifications and support the running of the vehicle. In exchange, Lockerstash very kindly receive old kit from the Dragons from years gone by which features on our website and helps us with our running of the organisation and allows us to support our projects and further extend the hand to the dragons and their work in South Wales.
When asked, Gareth Sullivan had this to say; “ Having an organisation Like Lockerstash onboard with the Dragons is a big win for us because the people and players involved with the dragons are very conscious of our greater rugby community in south wales and the grassroots game and to have discovered a charitable business actively promoting and creating a no barriers environment for the next generation of Dragons players and fans in the Gwent valley is incredible for us. By having them here it means we have the ability to put the cherry on the cake of our projects and relieves pressure on our budgets allowing us as a community department to make the little things in our projects be brought to life with that external backing.
Lockerstash and the Dragons are delighted with this partnership and hope as time moves on the partnership grows in what is a historic move in Lockerstash’s young history.
Last week, as Wales started to emerge from its Lockdown Protocols, we thought it a great time to head down to Monmouth and meet up with Martin warren. Martin is the Welsh Managing director of Homeless Rugby C.I.C. Homeless Rugby, co-ordinate with top tier teams throughout the country such as Glasgow warriors, Edinburgh, Worcester warriors and Newport Gwent Dragons providing their homeless community with coaching and access to facilities of the respective clubs. Our Partnership Involves Donating kit and equipment to Martin to distribute to throughout the Partnered clubs and their Homeless Rugby playing communities. On this occasion, pictured above, Martin and Guy pass over 3 thousand pounds worth of Bespoke Playing kit to Martin. This kit was supposed to be used by The international Homeless Rugby Tournament, hosted by Newport Gwent Dragons in July of this year, unfortunately due to corona Virus Outbreak this made this Physically impossible, Despite this the kit is ready for each respective team to use in the rescheduled tournament for the following July. On top of this Two Large Clothing sacks were donated to Martin, containing everything from high end Adidas boots to contact tops to shorts and socks, once more trying to make the sport more accessible and enjoyable for the homeless community. This partnership will no doubt be continuing into the future but will always need the help of you, the rugby playing public to allow great things like this to keep happening.
The month of April was hard for all Sports fans, not just Rugby players, with all the amateur rugby unions postponing fixtures until further notice, this left the players of the grassroots game dwindling their thumbs. Matters were not helped in anyway by cancellation of all major professional sporting competitions such as the Six Nations, domestic rugby competitions including the Gallagher Premiership, Guinness Pro 14 and super rugby. This on top of no relief coming for rugby fans, dare I say it from Football as the Premier league was suspended too. Leaving sports fans with no escape from their partners or parents to whom they would now be confined to watching endless Netflix , horrendous TIK TOK dances and the possibility of eating nothing but their own weight in horrendously constructed Banana bread. As a consequence, it was all go at Lockerstash HQ to construct a challenge for our loyal followers to get their teeth stuck into . So with help from our ambassadors, the tea cup conversion was born. The Aim, simply to launch a tea bag into a mug/tea cup with as much finesse and style as physically possible and then the challenge of nominating three friends to help spread the challenge virally. We were happy to see over 75 locker stash followers attempt the challenge, using everything from Hockeysticks in hallways to k9's in kitchens, making it a thoroughly enjoyable challenge to track. However, two notable individuals followed up behind our winner, the first being Elliott Adams. The 19 year old future county cricket prospect, currently studying at Loughborough executed a beautiful conversion using his lovely short handled cricket bat slotting a great 3 points. This was followed up by a beautiful second place effort from Burnham on sea Rugby club veteran Tim piper who slotted a beautiful conversion, hitting the bag on a fence ledge from 10 yards sending the bag toppling into the cup and dragging himself into that spot. However, only one individual could take home the spoils, winning the top prize of a Lockerstash hoodie, Bucket hat and Stash smuggler. This was 17 year old Joss Pascoe, the Truro College student, not long an ambassador impressed with class and finesse to execute a chip shot using a 6 iron, sending the bag aerial and eventually ending up in the mug. It has been almost 6 weeks and due to his valiant effort it felt right to award such a prize in person, whilst social distancing of course. So last Sunday, Guy , from the locker stash team headed to his home in Truro to surprise our shocked winner, on receiving his goodies he said "if that was the best I'd have like to have seen the worst". Regardless of his whit, he talked of his enthusiasm to help locker stash grow when we all finally see the back of these unprecedented times, whilst also talking of his aspirations to battle and win a place in the prestigious Lockerstash invitational side. It was a great encounter and showed the team another great example of why we work in grassroots Rugby and the great examples the next generation of grassroots players are setting on and off the field.
A fantastic lunch hosted @cornishpirates, taking @childrenhospicesw family to their first rugby game
Enjoyed by all
After a great game, Locker Stash Ambassadors took time before hitting the showers for a group shot.
Thanks to @scobesjnr, @sammatavesi, @kylemoyle93 and @danfrost7
The trip to the Children’s Hospice Southwest had been highly anticipated by the Locker Stash team ever since the tour had been agreed all the way back in the October of 2019.
We felt as a smallish group currently having agreed to provide Rugby experience days for the families of terminally ill children at Children’s Hospice SW, Little Harbour in St Austell it was essential that we had an insight into the workings of the Hospice, However harrowing we were perceiving the experience to be. This angst was reflected throughout the journey with conversation always coming back to how we would find the mood to be at Little Harbour and as it is one of Locker Stash’s first headline partnerships, we wanted to know we had made the correct decisio
However, it didn’t take long after arrival to discover to our amazement the joy provided by this Hospice. Our co-ordinator Alice Merrett took very little time in showing us around the Hospice with the same pride you would with your own home, showing us the state of the art facilities on offer for the users of Little Harbour, such as the sensory room, games room and hydrotherapy pool, demonstrating to us how mutually beneficial physical activity and well-being is for both Charities.
As the tour progressed, Alice, like many people in Cornwall expressed her husband’s passion for Rugby and how she felt it was amazing opportunity for us to work together to provide another experience to shape the memories of the children attending Little Harbour. Alice also showed us how the hospice was a real family affair, offering accommodation and activities for all the family, which we all agreed we wouldn’t have minded staying in, creating the image of a picturesque Cornish B&B than a hospice.
As the team at Locker Stash left Little harbour all coming to the same conclusion that we must do more to support the work of this wonderful charity who provide so much joy and love in a time that would otherwise be dark and harrowing for families , we agreed now would be a great time to announce that in 2020 Children’s Hospice would be the chosen Charity for our Rugby Sevens team the Lockerlads, Appearing in Amsterdam, Norwich, Newquay and other potential dates across the UK.
This partnership starts with our first experience day at the Cornish Pirates on the 26th of January so, if you see us rugby fans don’t forget to say Hi and please continue your support by purchasing and spreading the word of Locker Stash to your friends and family as a little act in the Rugby community can go a long way.Give customers a reason to do business with you.