Charlotte Hope: Friends join charity trip in memory of volunteer

Friends of a charity volunteer who died in a car crash have joined a trip taking donated football kits to Kenya.

Trainee teacher Charlotte Hope, 19, died in the crash on the A53 at Astley, near Shrewsbury, on 9 April 2022.

Her father, Wing Cdr Neil Hope, leads the Taking Football to Africa and Beyond appeal, which operates from RAF Shawbury.

He said his daughter was "one of our biggest helpers" and the group would visit a centre where she volunteered.

"Some of her friends from Shawbury and from university are joining us on the visit to see the places she loved," he said.

Restart Africa supports abandoned and abused street children in Kenya and Ms Hope had spent time volunteering at its centre in Gilgil.

In August, a fundraising football match helped raise £30,000 for the charity in her memory.

Her father said he and his wife Helen have continued to raise funds for the centre "as a legacy to our beloved daughter".

The appeal team have plans to make 34 deliveries in and around Nairobi and Gilgil.

The items being taken include shirts donated by Premier League clubs and teams from lower leagues.

The organisation, which was set up in 2006, said it had taken 347,500 items of kit, including more than 98,500 football shirts, to 61 countries.

Wing Cdr Hope, who will be making his 17th delivery trip to Kenya, said a 10-team football tournament would also take place in his daughter's memory.  "In a way, it will be hard, but in another way, it will be a lovely visit," he said.

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