Introducing...the Merstham Boot library!

Our very own Merstham FC, of Pitching In Isthmian South East, has been running a very successful ‘Boot Library’ for almost two years- and it is such a wonderful idea that we thought that more of our clubs might like to adopt it. As such, we got club stalwart Chris Pullen to give us the lowdown! 

The Merstham Boot Library is such a simple concept. Every year, kids grow out of their football boots. If you’re lucky, parents might get a season from them. But due to growth spurts, it’s not uncommon to need to buy two pairs in a short space of time. The vast majority of those boots end up in landfill, which is a waste of money, resources and is generally bad for the environment. 

The Merstham Boot library came about thanks to a nine year-old girl. Jude Rivers, who is one of Merstham’s youth team players, suggested that all of our youth teams donate their old boots to the football club. The club would then make them available to anyone who needed a new pair of boots free of charge. The hope was that, just like a library, people who took boots out, might also return boots that they no longer needed. What started off as a small scheme has grown exponentially. Since the Merstham Boot Library opened at the start of 2023, they have helped well over 200 children (and now adults too) with football boots across Merstham, Caterham, Redhill and Reigate. Like many innovative schemes it is both simple and replicable. The Merstham boot library team has inspired other football clubs to start their own boot library, by offering advice or providing them with boots to get started. We currently have a healthy stock of over 200 football boots, with some 400 boots flying off the shelves since we kicked things off 18 months ago. We’ve also augmented the boots with other football items that kids outgrow, such as shin pads, goalkeeping gloves and socks.

Merstham FC were able to secure sponsorship from KICK (Kickstart Initiatives for Community Kids) which augmented the money and facilities that the football club were providing. This has allowed us to create a purpose-built boot library in the ground, which is under construction at this moment.  

As for Jude, the inspiration behind the Boot Library, she was honoured by the local council, winning the Reigate and Banstead Sports Award for Young Volunteer of the Year.   

Congratulations to all at the Moatsiders on the success of their wonderful scheme- and to Jude for a fabulous idea!