We’re excited to officially announce our partnership with Grassboots, an online pre-loved kit and equipment marketplace. They’re an organisation as passionate as we are about supporting and helping grassroots sports.
We spoke to Jason Westhorpe, Director of Grassboots all about how they came to be, how they help clubs across the country and what they hope our partnership will bring.
Can you explain what Grassboots is?
Grassboots is an online marketplace designed to help rehome pre-loved sports kit and equipment, whilst at the same time raising funds for sports organisations.
Once a club has set up their Grassboots marketplace their communities can then donate any pre-owned, pre-loved sports related items to that marketplace.
It could be a pair of football or rugby boots, cricket bat, hoodie, shorts, tracksuit bottoms, tennis racquet, basically anything to do with sports. Essentially whatever you have that you no longer need or that your children have outgrown. We would love for you to donate it to one of the many sports organisations on Grassboots.
And who is it for?
Any organisation involved in sports of any kind can set up a marketplace on Grassboots.
So that could be any sports club from football to rugby to gymnastics to netball for example. It could even be a school, or it could be a sports club within the university.
As a circular economy app, we just want someone else to pick up that item and give it a good home. Prolong its life so that it doesn’t go to landfill. And, as a result, the money from that sale then goes to the sports organisation to help them with their fundraising.
Grassboots do all the bookkeeping for their virtual sports shop, so the club doesn’t have to worry. At the end of each month, we provide each club with a simple statement that shows what they sold during that month with a total amount. We then pay over the amount in one lump sum. It’s just 12 statements, 12 payments per year.
Where did the idea for Grassboots come from?
Our goals are to increase the reuse of sports equipment – by reducing waste at a community level. Secondly, we want to increase funding for community sports clubs. And the third thing is to help sports become more financially accessible.
That for us is the biggest impact we can have. There are many people out there who would love to join a club, but cost is a major barrier. We can’t do a lot about the cost of membership fees, but we can affect the cost of equipment and help to make this more accessible.
Jason Westhorpe, Grassboots
How can Grassboots help?
The Grassboots team have always been around grassroots sport, whether ourselves, or through our children. We’ve been aware of three main challenges in the world that we try to help:
- A place to put your perfectly good but no longer wanted sportswear and sports equipment to stop unnecessary landfill waste
- A place for others to browse those pre-owned items and then grab them at a fraction of high street prices to increase participation
- A way for the club to generate extra funds and make their club more accessible
Why would people use Grassboots instead of elsewhere?
So of course, there are other marketplace apps available. We make it easier by allowing clubs to create their own club shop and invite their community to donate directly to their shop – without the club having to get involved.
You also have some great charities that’ll take sports goods in that are no longer needed and distribute them in the UK or abroad. And that’s great, but there is a missing piece of the puzzle and that’s helping grassroots sports clubs stay in business.
That’s why our model not only supports sustainability and the community, but it also helps get some money back to the club as well. And that’s the key element I think is missing with a lot of other organisations.
How many clubs use Grassboots?
We have over 100 clubs and organisations including schools, using Grassboots now. And it’s not just grassroots clubs either, we have Premiership Rugby and EFL clubs on the platform as well.
What can be donated to clubs via Grassboots?
Grassboots is a preloved sports marketplace designed to help local community members get access to cheaper sportswear and sports equipment. With that in mind, absolutely anything sports related can be donated to a club’s online marketplace. Think clothing, equipment, accessories anything!
How does it work from a parents/members/carer’s perspective?
When designing the Grassboots app, we really considered how easy it would be for the members of sports clubs. All they need to do is download the app, take some photos, upload their donation to the club’s marketplace and that’s it!
It’s a parent to parent, member to member app. Where someone will post their donation and another will go on, find it and buy it. They can then use the built-in messenger service to work out where to meet and hand over the goods – which could be the club, school gates, etc.
How easy is it for my club to sign up?
A club just needs to head over the Grassboots club website or download our app. Signing up is simple, it’s just five fields of information needed – it’s as simple as that.
We then receive your registration and our team confirm your club on our system. When confirmed, your online shop is then live. You can then go and tell all your community members to start donating generously.
What have they been able to achieve through Grassboots?
So much! One club recently was able to raise £176 in a month through the app, which is huge.
For full transparency, it was a football club with around 400 members. It was also August, so just before the season started and they had a big push of activity.
Clubs who sign up get access to our marketing folder which provides them with adverts, flyers, and materials so that they can make a big noise about it.
Why do you want to partner with LoveAdmin?
LoveAdmin was recommended to us by a club who uses LoveAdmin for their football club management software. We’re both in the grassroots world and doing good things for the community. Everyone in our industry wants to help grassroots sports, that’s why we were all created in the first place and why we exist.
We strongly believe that through partnerships we can build an ecosystem of like-minded organisations that spread the good word about each other. Because we’re all here to help clubs.
Jason Westhorpe, Grassboots
It’s about collaborating, working together and giving the grassroots sports community more options and knowledge of that else is out there. It’s a very exciting partnership and we’re very much looking forward to continuing our work together.
