Year 8 student, Charlotte, from Berwick Campus has gone above and beyond with delivering her Environment and Sustainability Community Service Project as part of her Certificate of Excellence.

Charlotte has been collecting second hand netball and sporting uniforms as well as obsolete netball uniforms to donate to a Fijian village to support their grass roots netball.

She sought donations via the Casey Netball Association, Narre Warren Netball Club and with the help of her mum, she sent out a couple of emails, text messages and posted on two Facebook groups.

The response was greater than Charlotte could have ever imagined. In total she collected and upcycled 198 items including: netball bibs, football guernseys, sports bras, polo tops, netball dresses, second-hand hoodies, whistles, netballs, a pump and training cones.

Many of the uniforms she collected were brand new but rejected because of colour errors or incorrect styles, so were and were destined for disposal under protective branding in Australia.

Charlotte’s project idea was born during a holiday in Fiji earlier this year. She began talking to a local about how they were trying to fundraise for netball and sporting equipment for the people in their village.

“I found it heartbreaking, and I immediately wanted to help out”, Charlotte said. “Although this is such a small act, it will go a long way for these players. I often think about how proud I feel wearing my uniform, whether that be school, or my netball dress and I hope these players feel as proud as I do while representing their village.”