By Chris Slavin
Kwesi Appiah will certainly not be putting his feet up during the close season after he set-up a charity called From Us To Africa.
Ghanaian international striker Appiah has founded the charity to collect sporting equipment and clothing for those less fortunate in Africa and the AFC Wimbledon Foundation has already presented him with Dons kit to get it up and running.
Kwesi's charity push has already been well received and his launch received press attention on the Wimbledon Guardian website.
"This is something I am very passionate about," said Kwesi, who is pictured with AFC Wimbledon Director Philip Rudling. "The charity is something I have founded and come up with thanks to help from a few people and the club has been very supportive in donating kit. In my time travelling across Africa with the Ghanaian national team, I was struck by the number of adults and children playing sports with little or no sports clothing or equipment. Donations will make a difference to these people, and I aim to travel out to different countries across Africa to help distribute donations in person.
"I am looking forward to the trips out to Africa and distributing the donations. The charity kicked off last week with the aim of us collecting kit and sporting equipment from people, so that we can take it over there. What I've set-up is already proving to be popular in the early stages and we will see how it progresses."
To watch Rob Cornell's full interview with Kwesi, click on the link below.
Kwesi will officially be launching the From Us To Africa charity at Centre Court Shopping Centre in Wimbledon town centre on Sunday 1 July. This event will immediately follow the launch of the new AFC Wimbledon kit launch with Kwesi there to collect donations of kit and equipment. For more details about donating kit via post, or other information, visit the charity's website.