FAQs
Find the answers to the most frequently asked questions on all things Football Rebooted.
Behind the movement
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Football Rebooted is a national boot recycling initiative which makes it free and easy for anyone to donate or claim good quality football boots. It started with the idea to save one million pairs of boots from going to landfill.
Boot collection boxes are available free of charge to football clubs, schools and organisations. They can be found across the UK, enabling the collection and redistribution of football boots in local communities. Freepost boot bags are also available to request online so anyone can donate the boots they no longer need.
Football Rebooted is run and funded by the energy supplier, Utilita.
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Utilita is the UK’s only energy supplier created to help households make their energy spend go further, in the interest of saving people’s pockets and our planet. Through our work in football, we discovered there was a huge opportunity to make a positive environmental, social and economic impact by keeping boots out of landfill while making it free and easy for anyone to donate or claim these boots.
Our work with clubs since the pandemic in 2020 has seen us publish three reports into how grassroots sport has been impacted by recent social and economic factors. We have lobbied hard for government support. Recognised for our positive impact on British football, Utilita was involved in shaping the parliamentary Plan for Sport and Recreation for 2021/22.
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The official Football Rebooted ambassadors are David James MBE, former England and Premier League goalkeeper, and Courtney Sweetman-Kirk, former professional footballer and TV pundit.
How does Football Rebooted work?
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You can drop off your spare football boots (or astro turf boots) at a Utilita Energy Hub, Powerleague centre or a listed Football Rebooted collection point. Find your nearest one here.
If you are unable to get to a collection point, you can request an environmentally-friendly ‘boot bag’ and send them to us for FREE. Each bag will comfortably fit two adult pairs or three smaller pairs of boots.
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You can claim FREE boots at Football Rebooted collection and reallocation points across the UK. Find your nearest one here.
Schools, clubs or charitable organisations can request a minimum of TEN pairs of boots via our website and we will arrange their delivery.
We are not able to send boots out directly to individuals.
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We’re offering any school, club or organisation a FREE Football Rebooted boot collection box so you can become a Football Rebooted Collection Point and collect and reallocate boots in your local community!
Order it on our website and we’ll provide you with everything you need to get started, including a boot collection box, e-flyer and social media graphics to help you promote your involvement and raise awareness of the campaign.
When you receive boots, you can then reallocate them to those that need them within your local community, at your discretion.
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You can drop off any spare boots you have, including larger numbers of boots at any Utilita Energy Hub or a listed Football Rebooted Collection Point. Find your nearest one here.
You may want to contact the Collection Point venue before visiting to check they have capacity to take the number of boots you have to donate.
If you are donating by post, you can request as many freepost bags as you require via our website. Each bag will comfortably fit two adult pairs or three smaller pairs.
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If you are claiming boots from a Football Rebooted Collection Point then, yes, you can request as many pairs of boots as you need but allocation will be at the discretion of whoever is reallocating the boots.
If you are part of a school, community club or grassroots football club, and would like to request multiple pairs of boots, just get in touch.
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As long as your boots are not damaged in any way, they should have life left in them. We do ask that you help us to get your boots ‘claim-ready’, by giving them a clean if they need it.
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We do ask that you help us to get your boots ‘claim-ready’, by giving them a clean if they need it.
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Not a penny! All donated boots are available to those who need them for FREE. The idea is that no one should miss out on playing because they don’t have a pair of boots.
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No, the campaign is designed to remove all barriers to boots being donated. Utilita is funding the postage. All you need to do is put your boots into the FREEPOST bag we send you and take it to your local post office.
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Boots donated by post are collected at a central location and we fulfil batch requests from schools, clubs and charitable organisations.
So far, people’s generous donations have helped to start up girls’ football teams, support various refugee football programs and enabled children to continue playing grassroots football during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Yes, football boots (and astro turf boots) are the only items intended to be donated and claimed through Football Rebooted.
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Every Utilita energy hub is a Football Rebooted Collection Point. To find your nearest energy hub, visit utilita.co.uk/energy-hub
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Schools can order a FREE collection boot box through our website and become a Football Rebooted Collection Point and collect and reallocate boots to those that need them within their school and the wider local community.
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Grassroots can order a FREE collection boot box through our website and become a Football Rebooted Collection Point and collect and reallocate boots to those that need them within their club and the wider local community.
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Any organisation, community centre or charitable group that is well-placed to collect and reallocate boot donations can order a FREE collection boot box through our website. This means you can become a Football Rebooted Collection Point and collect and reallocate boots to those that need them within your organisation and the wider local community.
Sustainability and the environment
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There are two ways that football boots negatively impact the environment:
When they are made (materials required, energy, shipping, etc). Every time a pair of football boots is made, around 30 lbs of carbon emissions are generated, having a detrimental impact on the environment.
When they are disposed of and end up in landfill. Some materials in football boots will last for 1,000 years in landfill! 400% more carbon emissions are produced if we wear a pair of football boots 5 times, instead of 50 times.
Football Rebooted started with the aim to rehome one million pairs of ‘pre-played’ football boots, which would save 136,000 tonnes of carbon – the same as taking 10,000 cars off the road for a year or turning the energy off in one million medium-sized houses for 8 days.*
*30 lbs of carbon per pair of running shoes x 1 million pairs of boots rehomed / 2,200 lbs (in a tonne) = 13,636 tonnes of carbon saved (9,810 cars of the road for a year based on 1.39 tonnes per car).
With every 1000 pairs rehomed, we’ll save 13.6 tonnes of carbon – that’s the same as taking ten (9.8) cars off the road for a year, in terms of equivalent 2900 KWh of energy used each year (medium sized house) = 7.94 KWh per day usage
0.207074 kg is the amount of carbon emissions generated by one KWh of energy.
Per day, (7.94 x 0.207074) a medium-sized home generates 1.64kg of carbon emissions. 1.64kg is equivalent to 3.615 lbs. 30lbs (generated by manufacturing new boots) is equivalent to 13.6kg / 1.64 = 8.29 (days) a week’s worth of energy.
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By donating boots, someone else can claim them. That means all the carbon emissions that were created when manufacturing them are offset by the fact that they are being used once again, instead of a new pair being bought.
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Pollution induced climate change doesn’t wait. Many people think climate change will only affect future generations, which is the biggest myth that we need to dispel. The pollution we generate today as a nation is already having a disastrous, direct impact. The water and crops we need to survive are being affected, as a result of increased temperature and changes in the weather. We must act, and fast.