Community outreach in Wiltshire has allowed a company to donate around 1,000kg of football kits to clubs in South Africa.

Imagine Cruising, with the help of UK facilities manager, Clint Ricketts, South Africa finance manager, Simon Cleworth, and the South Africa charity committee, donated the kits and more than £1,500 to clubs in Cape Town.

The kits will help players aged nine to 18 who struggle to access tournaments due to their lack of matching kits and professional equipment.

Mr Cleworth said: "The boys playing in this area train in odd, tatty kit, often with boots so old they’re held together with tape and string."

The donation means the teams can now wear professional kits and boots from clubs including Swindon Town FC, Swindon Supermarine FC, Devizes Town, Robins FC, Draycott Football Academy, Marlborough Youth FC, HS Sports, Wiltshire Football Academy, and AFC Haydon Vale.

Mr Ricketts, an FA-licensed football coach, and his son Brandon, a PE teacher and licensed football coach, flew to Cape Town to deliver more than 200kg of kit during a specially organised tournament for the youth of Khayelitsha township.

During the trip, the pair provided daily coaching support to Y2K College FC, a club where more than 200 children used to share five old footballs.

Clint said: "I’ve never coached such a nice bunch of kids.

"The quality of football was also amazing – many of them could walk into the academies over here without any trouble."

More than 100 players attended the tournament, split into Under-12s, refereed by Brandon, and Under-18s, refereed by Clint.

It was a very close tournament that went right down to the wire.

In the Under-12s, just one point separated first and second place, while the winner of the Under-18s was decided on goal difference.

Mr Cleworth said: "The games were played in the spirit of true sportsmen – fast, hard and committed, but fair and honest.

"We even witnessed Clint running the lines in his shorts.

"No one had ever seen a whiter pair of legs."

After the tournament, there was a traditional South African barbecue, or braai, before trophies were handed out to the winning teams and stand-out players of the tournament.

Clint summed up the spirit following an incredible effort from both the UK and South Africa to make this possible: "The appreciation, courtesy, sportsmanship and thankfulness of all the children and coaches was overwhelming.

"We hope this will become an ongoing cause we can continue helping."