For second generation Brentford fan, Dr Mike Thornton, two passions came together when he visited rural Ghana last month.
Mike works for an international aid and development charity, International Needs, empowering some of the poorest people in the world to climb out of extreme poverty through education and community development.
He visited some of the International Needs schools in the remote bush of the Volta Region of Ghana.
Some of these villages do not have a clean water supply or electricity, but they are passionate about football.
Up until this visit the education of the children had been sadly lacking – they had never heard of Brentford Football Club.
That has now been addressed as Brentford kit and other surplus stock from The Bees Superstore was donated to the charity so that it could be given out to these children.
It is now their new school football strip.
Ladies fleeces were also given out at the International Needs residential Vocational Training Centre in Adidome.
This is a centre for women who have not gained any formal education in poor rural communities and some have been exploited and abused, even enslaved.
At the centre they learn that they are valued, given a basic education and taught skills so that they can support themselves through work.
They often only have the cloths they arrive in and so the Brentford fleeces and t-shirts were a very popular gift.
For more on the work of International Needs and on how you can get involved, go to www.ineeds.org.uk
Mike said: “A big thank you to Brentford FC who have supported this initiative and have shown themselves to be not only community minded but globally minded in their social responsibility.”