A FAMILY has launched a foundation to send thousands of football boots to help children in Africa.

Iain Finch, wife Jackie and sons Oscar, 16, and Toby, 14, have set up Boots2Africa and are calling on children across Colchester to save and not bin their boots.

They are hoping to team up with football clubs across the region and already have Colchester United on board.

Mr Finch, of Colchester, said: “It all started with a photo. I saw a fantastic image on LinkedIn of a lot of boys sitting in a ring with no shoes on.

“There are 10,000 children a year affected by snake bites and infections of the foot in Africa, which can be solved by them simply having something to put on their feet.

“I cleared out the garage and found 38 pairs of football boots between my two boys which they had built up over the years. I just thought ‘we can fix that’.”

So Boots2Africa was born. The foundation is in talks with Essex County Council to place bins in schools and there are hopes football clubs will follow suit.

Mr Finch said: “I spoke to my two boys and we decided it would be a family project. Our target is to send 1 million football boots to Africa by 2030. It sounds like a big number but it actually isn’t.”

“If you think about it, every weekend you have 6,000 children playing football across Colchester, Tendring, Braintree and south Suffolk.

“And there are lots of football clubs.

“We have already got in touch with Colchester, Ipswich and Norwich.”

The family will be heading out to Africa in April with Colchester United’s Football in the Community and African Adventures.

While they are there they will deliver the first set of boots to the country while seeking out partners to work with in the future.

But in order to get there, they need to raise £10,000 for their travels. They are now doing fundraisers to raise the cash with the first challenge the Yorkshire Three Peaks walk.

The family also plans to take part in the Maldon Half Marathon and the 103 mile Tour de Essex, all of which take place this month. To donate to the foundation go to crowdfunding.justgiving.com/boots2africa.

For more information on how to get involved or donate boots visit boots2africa.co.uk