Local PE teacher Furo Davies and his tutor group are sending hundreds of pairs of football boots to Nigeria.

The St George’s player, who teaches at Ballakermeen High School in Douglas, came up with the idea of BallaBoots in order to give his pupils the chance to help start a charity and do their bit for the environment and those less fortunate.

’BallaBoots started when I put the idea to my tutor group, as it had been something I had been thinking about for a while,’ explained Furo.

’We brainstormed and came up with the name BallaBoots along with other ideas as to how we can reach out to the pupils and gather as many boots as we can.

’The response from the pupils was brilliant: we had pupils turning up to our tutor every other morning donating their boots.

’I also put a message out to the local clubs asking to donate any boots that they have acquired. Castletown, Rushen, St George’s, Corinthians, Union Mills, Douglas Athletic and Peel all donated either old boots lying around in their clubhouse or from players at these clubs donating their pre-loved boots, so I would like to thank them specifically for their kind responses.

’But I know that we have only scratched the surface and there are potentially thousands of boots around the Isle of Man waiting to be donated ready to put a smile on an aspiring football player out in Nigeria.

’The impact that these boots will have is quite hard to comprehend, but I know the benefit it will bring will be astronomical.

’With this first shipment, we are sending over 200 boots and they are going to local teams around the Delta region of Nigeria.

’A lot of the players over there train every day, with the aspiration to make it as the next Nigerian superstar. Many dream of playing in the Premier League and, although very few do, many end up being exploited by fake agents promising them that dream, with families giving up their life savings to see their child make it as a professional footballer.

’I saw this first hand and still hear stories of players being stranded around Europe and Northern Africa which has inevitably fed into the migration crisis going on today.

’Therefore, I am hoping that BallaBoots can help the players continue the sport they love but also spread the message surrounding the serious predicament that they can land themselves in.

’In the future BallaBoots are looking to grow further and provide advice and opportunities to such players and possibly bridge the gap legitimately.

’We will be registering as a Manx Charity and will be looking for more sponsorship and donations including more football boots, sporting clothes and equipment.

’We will also be branching out to educational books in the hope of creating partners with schools in Nigeria.

’Thank you to everyone that has donated and to Conister Bank for their sponsorship.

’We are still taking donations and you can keep informed as to what’s going on and where the boots have gone by following the Facebook page @BallaBoots’