Recycled sports gear programme launches in Taranaki.
Sport Taranaki is coordinating a sports gear recycling programme for kids without access to equipment. Marina Healey (Sport Taranaki), Laura Matthews (Sport Taranaki,) founder Denise McLean and Peter Grennell (Waste Management Regional Manager – Taranaki/Manawatu).
A homegrown project that recycles sports gear by giving it to kids who may not otherwise have access to equipment has launched in Taranaki.
Replay, started by Manawatū mum-of-two Denise McLean in 2017, is a community programme that collects new and used sports gear and redistributes it.
“We had two sporty children,” McLean said. “Like most Kiwi families there was gear in the garage that was mostly outgrown and still in good condition.”
She collected gear in her Palmerston North garage and then connected with the Manawatū Regional Sports Trust.
More than 10,000 donated items have been distributed across Manawatū and Whanganui, and the project launched in Taranaki on Monday, administered by Sport Taranaki and supported by Waste Management.
Specially marked bins will be placed in sports hubs, schools or shops, and all donations are collected, sorted and cleaned, then handed out in packs to families.
“Over two-and-a-half thousand children have individually received an item,” McLean said.
Replay was set up by Denise McLean, a mother and sports enthusiast from Palmerston North.
Waste Management have donated 10 bins to collect the gear.
It helps kids be more active, but it doesn’t have to be organised sport, McLean said. “It may be just playing on the driveway or in the cul-de-sac.”
Schools have also received gear for their PE sheds.
In a statement, Sport Taranaki play and active recreation advisor Laura Matthews said the recycled gear is given out within the communities that donated it.
“A lack of gear can really hold some kids back. Replay is brilliant because it’s a community-led project that gets the right gear to the people who will really benefit from it.”
Families with kids often outgrow their sports gear, which then clutters the house or ends up in landfill, she said.
“It’s a win for the people and the environment, too.”
Waste Management have donated 10 bins and regional manager for Taranaki/Manawatū, Peter Grennell, said they were keen to help the community recycle as much as possible.
Donation bins will be at The Hub in Hāwera, Sandfords Event Centre in Opunake, Lion’s Den Gym in Stratford and the Sport Taranaki building at Yarrow Stadium.
There are also roving bins ready for short-term use at businesses or special events.
Organisations interested in hosting a bin or supporting the project in another way should contact Laura Matthews at laura.matthews@sporttaranaki.org.nz