Arsenal donated old football socks and the donkeys couldn’t be happier
Arsenal came up with an unconventional, yet incredibly wholesome, use for their old footy socks: donating them to donkeys to help protect their legs from infection.
While it may sound a bit like a fever dream, Redwings Horse Sanctuary is delighted with the donation and hailed the old socks as ‘invaluable’.
The charity said the Premier League champs got in touch of their own accord to offer around 40 pairs of unused socks.
The old football socks had simply been piling up at the training ground and had no practical use for the team.
Advert
However, rather than chucking them away, the club decided to give them to Redwings, where, as well as looking pretty adorable when modelled by the donkeys, the red and white socks also have several important practical purposes.
Nicola Knight, Redwings’ Head of Communications and Campaigns explained: “This was one of the more unusual donations we’ve been offered here at Redwings, but professional football socks, which these days are often footless by design, can be invaluable – they’re a game changer you might say!
“The socks are being used at our Horse Hospital in Norfolk, for anything from protecting our rescued residents’ sensitive legs from flies, to holding their vet bandages in place, protecting them from head collar rubs and even holding back the hair on their legs while they get their feet trimmed.
"Our donkeys at Redwings’ Caldecott are using them for enrichment activities too!
“They are a fantastic bit of kit and we’re so pleased that Arsenal reached out to us. This inspired donation has been very well received.”
The idea to donate the old socks came from Michael Lloyd Arsenal’s Operational Sustainability Manager, who said: “We’re always looking for ways to reduce waste and make a positive impact through the actions we take as a club, and it's great we can work together to repurpose our old kit towards the care and wellbeing of animals."
Redwings is one of the biggest horse sanctuaries in the UK, with over 1,500 horses, donkeys, and ponies in its care and four decades of experience rescuing equines who have suffered neglect or cruelty.
Claire Reid