Scone teenager heads to Ghana for football tournament

Feb 9 2010 by Johnathon Menzies, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

GENEROUS Scone teenager Jack Kydd is about to embark on an African footballing adventure for charity.

The 16-year-old Perth Academy pupil is set to travel to Ghana with his cousin, also called Jack, on April 3.

The duo aim to collect as many replica football strips as possible before they leave to donate to the community surrounding the coastal village of Dzodze.

And the ambitious youngsters hope to stage a five-a-side tournament with children from local orphanages and schools in the surrounding area.

The fifth year student, who sat his Higher PE prelim exam on Friday, explained: “My Auntie Karen knows someone out there who’s set up a charity with her husband.

“My cousin Jack asked me to go with him during our Easter holidays and I thought it’d be a great thing to do.

“The World Cup is in South Africa in the summer so we want to hold our own version, but in Ghana with five-a-side games.

“We thought it’d be good to collect tops and take them over because the local children might not have their own strips, or have heard of some of the teams here.”

The donations will be given to development charity All Heart, founded by John Goka and his wife Karen.

Although admitting he doesn’t follow a particular team, Jack said he enjoys playing football with friends and hopes his April 3 journey will help him on the road to enrolling on a course at Elmwood College and becoming a gamekeeper.

Jack’s mum, Jane, said she was proud of her son for thinking of others.

And she urged PA readers to hand over any unwanted shirts to the good cause, providing they are still in good condition.

She continued: “This is a great opportunity for them to do something for other people.

“It will be the first time they’ve been away from home on their own.

“It would be great if as many people as possible gave them their unwanted strips.”

Anyone with spare strips they wish to donate to the boys’ adventure can arrange a drop-off point with Jane by emailing her on jane.kydd@btopenworld.com

For more information on the work of All Heart visit www.all-heart.org.uk