Home / News / Halfway to £50,000: Reflecting on 5 Years of the Sports Kit Sponsorship Grant

Halfway to £50,000: Reflecting on 5 Years of the Sports Kit Sponsorship Grant

Back in 2020, we set out on a decade-long mission: to pledge £50,000 over ten years to help schools overcome budget constraints and give their students extra enthusiasm on the court, pitch, or field by providing them with professional-grade gear. However, because of the global COVID pandemic at the time, we delayed this grant by a year.

We are now five years into this journey – this year is the 6^th edition of the Sports Kit Sponsorship Grant, and as we have hit the midway point, we are looking back at the first five years of this initiative. Our team has visited rugby pitches in Newport, basketball courts in Bedfordshire, football pitches in Cornwall, and many others around the UK!

With every school visit, it is very clear that this grant has done more than just provide kits, it has built confidence, encouraged unity, and made taking part in sport even more special for hundreds of young athletes.

What have the schools said?

When we started this, we did not just want to post boxes to addresses, we wanted to see the big smiles and hear the excitement when the children first see their new kit – and we are never disappointed! Here is what some of the winners have said over the years:

A HUGE thank you to @SafesmartUK for sponsoring our new sports kit. The children are absolutely thrilled and can't wait to wear it! pic.twitter.com/nTWp8x6qgW

— Oak Field PS Barry (@OakSch) November 11, 2021

Oakfield was our very first rugby kit, and also our first Welsh winner.

The @robertbms basketball team is all kitted up and looking splendid, thanks to new sponsors @SafesmartUK

Thanks for your support! 🏀#BESTfamily https://t.co/nk66ux1l9E

— Bedfordshire Schools Trust (@BedsSchTrust) October 18, 2022

Robert Bloomfield were our very first basketball team back in 2022, and also one of our favourite visits so far.

A huge congratulations to our @EtonburyAcademy U13 Girls Football Team who came 2nd in the @UtilitaFootball Cup in Luton ⚽️💙🔥

Kit Sponsor: @SafesmartUK 💙🎽 pic.twitter.com/tcXKYKoE84

— Etonbury PE (@EtonburyPE) October 27, 2024

Etonbury were in the fourth edition of the grant, and their 2nd place finish within just weeks of receiving their kit made us very proud as their sponsors!

We were thrilled to attend a fantastic football event for Year 5 and 6 girls at the WBA Dome! The morning was filled with fun, teamwork, and competition. Our girls did St Paul’s proud, winning 4 out of 5 games in the tournament and giving their all!@sandwell_games pic.twitter.com/SSROoud36w

— St Paul’s CE Academy (@SPA_DY4) March 5, 2025

St Paul’s, another favourite of ours, were also in the fourth edition of the grant – 4 out of 5 tournament wins is amazing, well done girls!

Why does a kit matter?

Over the last five years, most of the feedback from teachers has been about identity. In many schools, sports budgets have been squeezed to the point where kits are often a mismatched collection of items – hockey shorts, athletics tops, and rugby socks for example. When a school wins the grant, that narrative changes:

For the children, it is not just about clothing, but it is also about validation. When a student puts on a kit that looks professional – like something they see on TV, they start playing with a lot more confidence:

The benefits are not only for the children. Having a kit also eases some budgetary pressures on a school:

Five Years by the Numbers

While each individual school testimony is wonderful, the scale of the impact keeps us going. In summary, since 2021, we have seen:

• A multitude of sports: Unsurprisingly, football kits are the most popular request, however we have seen an uptick in basketball kits year by year.
• 50 schools have won so far – 10 winners are picked at random every year, so we never know where we are going to go next. This has resulted in thousands of miles on the road to deliver kits to a lot of very excited children!
• £25,000 invested directly into grassroots school sport.

---

The Road to 2031

We are exactly halfway through our ten-year pledge, and we have learned that while we provide Smartlog® to keep schools, teachers and students safe and compliant, the joys and memories of a typical school day are often found on the sports field.

If your school uses Smartlog and you feel like a new sports kit would be of great benefit to your school, we want to help you bring this into fruition.

The 2026 application window is currently OPEN and will close on Thursday 30 April 2026, at 5.00pm – check if your school is eligible to apply.

A new sponsored kit seems like a simple gesture, but as the last five years have shown us, it is often the spark that creates a new generation of proud, enthusiastic young athletes.

Keep an eye on the official grant page for upcoming deadlines.