Football boots set to provide cash for schools

Kick4change, based in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, has designed and created an affordable football boot aimed at children aged between four and eight.

All profits made from the boots, which are priced at £14.99, will go back into the child’s school or football team and to support other community initiatives.

The company is the idea of childhood friends Jamie Tosh, 33, and Simon Brown, 32, who wanted to create a business that would help children and grassroots sport, rather than simply lining their own pockets.

They are the first social enterprise company in Britain to sell football boots and hope to expand the range to include items such as trainers.

A sneak preview of the boot, which launches nationwide in November, was given to a group of children at South Otterington Primary School, near Northallerton, who gave the product a thumbs up.

The company hopes that the boot will become a fixture on school uniform lists as a way of creating a sustainable source of income for schools and small clubs.

Mr Tosh said: "We’re aiming at a gap in the market because younger children are not so brand conscious and parents like them because they’re affordable at a time when kids grow very quickly."

Kick4change is a community interest company, an initiative started by the government that creates a business that is half way between a normal business and a charity.

The company is under a legal obligation to put all profits back into communities, with 50 per cent going directly to the school or club and the other 50 per cent doled out to deserving schemes or charities.

Mr Tosh said: "This was not started as a personal wealth project – we want schools and clubs to benefit. We run a very tight business so as much profit as possible can be made."

The company is encouraging schools and clubs throughout the region to register at www.kick4change.org to receive more information when the boots officially go on sale.