UK hands over rugby kit

MASERU – The United Kingdom’s High Commissioner to Lesotho, Anne Macro, handed over rugby kit and equipment to Mpho Community School in Maseru East on Tuesday.

The equipment was collected from donors and well-wishers in the United Kingdom (UK) by SOS Kids Aid in the UK and donated to Lesotho.

The gifts will be distributed to various schools with rugby programmes by the Lesotho Rugby Academy which was formed in 2014. The equipment includes playing kits, rugby balls and more.

The academy, which was set up by Litšitso Motšeremeli and Welshman Dan Aylward-Mills, tackles social problems in Lesotho through a 10-week rugby programme that is delivered to young boys and girls in the poorest and most vulnerable areas across the country.

Motšeremeli serves as the Country Director while Alyward-Mills, who will always be remembered as one of the founders of the Lesotho Rugby Federation in 2012, is back home in Wales.

Speaking at Tuesday’s handover of the equipment, High Commissioner Macro said she knows rugby in Lesotho has close ties to rugby in the UK because of Alyward-Mills

She said rugby is a sport the British High Commission has had a long association with in Lesotho.

“The equipment has been gathered by an NGO in the UK, the SOS Kids Aid, and they sent it here,” Macro said.

“It is for everybody to share and we are pleased to be handing it over today at your school on behalf of all the schools. I am very pleased to see your teams wearing some of the kits now,” she added.

Motšeremeli thanked the Mpho Community School.

“The school was one of the first schools to accept rugby and playing rugby is not only for fun, but to help the kids stay focused and it keeps them disciplined,” Motšeremeli said.

It is not clear how many schools will benefit from the donation. Motšeremeli said they are yet to open the boxes and share their contents.

Tlalane Phahla