Nade Ward co-founded Socker Share, to help underprivileged children play football, towards the end of last year – following a pre-2020 volunteering stint in St Lucia. Here he looks forward to outdoor sports starting up again and helping young footballers in a new country by the summer
My life has been packed with adventure so far. I’ve done lots of travelling and have experienced many different cultures through coaching football abroad. Along the way, I discovered that my passion is to help people and that is what I am focussed on doing! Being 22, I am excited that what I have achieved so far is the only the beginning.
At the start of 2020, I had begun thinking about the possibilities of creating a way to donate socks to the children I had met in Saint Lucia. It felt like the perfect time to try something new.
Lockdown has been very productive for me, having launched Socker Share in October 2020. We were busy preparing for launch in the first lockdown, then the second and third ones we have spent running and growing the business – so it’s been fast-paced. I am grateful for having Socker Share to focus and work on, because I know that without it, this period would have been much tougher for me. I have incredible sympathy for people who aren’t able to do their hobbies and interests at the moment, but it is promising to know that we are nearly through this. That being said, I still have days where everything feels tougher than usual, and I have to remind myself that this will pass.
Socker Share was inspired by a charity volunteer project I did in Summer 2019, where I coached football to children and young adults in Saint Lucia. I noticed that a lot of the children in my sessions had to play football in bare feet, not because they didn’t have any boots to wear, but because they didn’t have any socks to go with them. It amazed me that something as small as socks was creating such a big barrier as to why these children couldn’t play sports safely, so when I returned home, I spoke to my cousin Connor and we made it our mission to change this.
I am very excited for outdoor sport to start up again, not only because coaching is one of my favourite hobbies, but also because I know how important it is for people to develop and have fun! Sport builds communities, from local grassroots football teams all the way through to the professional game. It is a way to connect and bring us together and I think after a year like this, it is that community spirit that everybody will cherish so much more.
My hope for the rest of the year is that we can continue to grow Socker Share, so that we can help more people in more countries. Once lockdown is lifted, I want to deliver talks and educational workshops in partnership with grassroots clubs, because I know that my voice and story is powerful. I feel a responsibility to show people that they can make a difference, in particular our youth, so I believe that supporting local sports clubs for special training events could be fantastic in raising awareness of our mission.
The future of Socker Share is very bright! We have developed a new partnership with an amazing country, which means a new edition will be coming out early summertime. We have just announced our first ever corporate sponsor, Source One Associates, who increase the number of socks that we donate by an additional five pairs per month. As well as this, we are becoming a sponsor ourselves, supporting a local grassroots football team. All of this is very exciting, so if you are interested in following our journey you can find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – @SockerShare.
To purchase a pair of socks and to make a donation, please visit sockershare.co.uk
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