A national campaign aiming to collect thousands of football kits for disadvantaged communities in the UK and around the world has been kicked off by Linden Homes.

The Housebuilder of the Year, with local offices at Totton has joined up with the Kits 4 Causes charity for its Kit Up, Kit Out project. The company is urging individuals, football clubs and school teams to hand in their old football kits at dedicated drop-off points at around 90 developments around the country.

These will be passed on to Kits 4 Causes which uses football in the UK to help tackle social issues such as reducing truancy through social inclusion, as well as bringing communities in conflict together through sport in Africa.

As an additional incentive, Linden Homes is running a prize draw for people donating their football kits to win a brand new shirt of their choice. Teams who donate will be in with a chance to win a fresh set of strips, and will be entered into a national prize draw to win £1,000 to fund new sporting equipment.

With just six weeks to go until the start of the new football season and a summer of sport ahead, Linden Homes is hoping as many members of the local community as possible join them in making the campaign a huge success.

Linden Homes Southern managing director Matt Paine said: “As a leading national business with local developments across Southampton, we can offer Kits 4 Causes vital support to reach donors around the country and gather as many strips as possible.

“We’re literally asking people for the shirts off their backs! But we expect a wonderful response because this is such an inspirational cause that aims to bring communities together – a philosophy of neighbourhood engagement we are passionate about ourselves.

“People just need to take a few moments to pick out their unused kit, drop it off to us and we’ll do the rest. Remember, you might even be rewarded with a brand new shirt of your choice.”

Football kits can be dropped off at Park Centrale, just off the Avenue, Splash in Ocean Village or Brunswick Park or The Mallards in Totton from Saturday 21st July until Sunday 12th August.

Locally, Linden Homes is currently building new homes at Park Centrale and Splash in Southampton, Brunswick Park and the Mallards in Totton as well as a range of developments across the rest of Hampshire.

For more information, please visit www.kitupkitout.co.uk or www.lindenhomes.co.uk/kitupkitout