Trailfinders scrum half Gareth Simpson founded Rugby Recycled in 2011 to collect and donate second hand rugby kit to make the sport accessible for all. 

He sat down and shared the ins and outs of his charity Rugby Recycled ahead of International Day of Charity.

Gareth joined Ealing Trailfinders this summer from Saracens, having also played for Worcester Warriors, and the Sharks in Durban, South Africa. 

Speaking about how his charity came about, he said: ‘Rugby Recycled is a charity I set up back in South Africa in 2011 when I started high school there.’

‘The first match that we played for my high school, we were playing one of the local townships. Before the game, our coach came up to us and said we need to take our boots off for the match, because the other team couldn’t afford boots.

‘All of my classmates had all just got new boots, so I chatted to my parents and we decided to collect everyone’s old boots from the season before. My dad coached a local club, so he had a whole load of old kit, tackle bags and all of those sorts of things.

‘We took a truckload of kits to the school that we had played against and donated it to them, and the following season they came back and played against us and they were using all the kit that we had donated. That’s how Rugby Recycled was born.’

‘The goal is to give everyone who wants to play rugby the opportunity to play rugby.

‘There’s so many people out there that are perhaps less fortunate and don’t want to get involved because they might not have the equipment. So to give people that chance to play and participate is the main goal.

‘We’ve been doing that for quite a long time now, and we’re so grateful to everyone that has supported us. But there’s still so many people that need our help. So to evolve, we want to keep on growing, keep on getting more kit and taking it to more places around the world.’ 

Rugby Recycled partnered with Scrum5 in South Africa in 2022, to oversee a project for kit collection to distribute to clubs and schools in South Africa.

They also partnered with Star* Scheme (Support Transform, and Achieve through Rugby), collecting kit for teams for distribution around the Star* network.

Gareth reflected on more standout moments his charity has provided for him. 

‘There are so many moments. Every time we give a pair of boots or a t-shirt to someone who might not have it, or we give a full kit to a team and they gain an identity every time we do that, it’s so special and it never gets old.

‘But I think the standout moment has to be the very first one that we did. We rocked up with a truck full of kit, and everyone was just so excited.’

‘To see people so excited about the sport that we all love was just so amazing.’

Ahead of International Day of Charity on September 5th, Gareth outlined what you can do to support the charity. 

‘You can go have a look at our socials. It’s rugby_recycled on all socials, and there’s plenty of information there on how you can support us.

‘But we’re mainly looking for kits. Boots are always a big one. Boots are always in short supply, so the more boots we can get, the better.

‘If you know of someone who needs a pair of boots or needs something, just go and help them. It’s a very easy thing to do.’

‘The main goal is to just get people playing rugby.’

For more information on Rugby Recycled, click here.