Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
HEATWAVE HITS - help vendors work safely with a summer support kit
Buy a kit
Activism

How a football memorabilia clearout saw it get extra time elsewhere

For one football fanatic, lockdown prompted a clear out of memorabilia for a good cause.

Win, lose or draw then lose on penalties, a game of football doesn’t end with the final whistle.

The Euros are a reminder of the important part sport plays in our national and individual lives.

Mike Douglas is a football fanatic. During lockdown, like many of us, he alleviated boredom by having a clearout.

“When you’ve spent decades collecting mementos of something you love, you don’t think there’ll be a day when you let it all go,” he says. “But with 2020 providing us all with the opportunity to take stock and reprioritise, I knew it was time to cut 30 years of football memorabilia loose.”

But instead of chucking or donating to a charity shop, Douglas wrestled with what he calls the “beauty and burden of nostalgia” by diligently cataloguing his soccer souvenirs.

Project Restart now exists as a website (www.project-restart.co) and coffee-table book.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

“It’s a place I can come to dive back into my memorabilia whenever I’m feeling nostalgic,” Douglas explains. “A new way of bringing back memories of childhood heroes, classic kits, away-day adventures, and the many beers (and tears) along the way.”

Douglas was also determined that his collection could do good in its extra time. He auctioned some to buy new kit for his old school team, and donated more to The Sporting Memories Foundation and Football Memories Scotland, who help people experiencing dementia, depression or loneliness to connect with others through their love of sport.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Feeling the heat?

It's even tougher on the street. Could you buy a summer support kit for £35 to help vendors work safely in the sun?

Recommended for you

View all
Renowned photographer Misan Harriman on Black Lives Matter, Gaza and finding hope in protest
Protest

Renowned photographer Misan Harriman on Black Lives Matter, Gaza and finding hope in protest

Whatever happened to Make Poverty History?
Make Poverty History

Whatever happened to Make Poverty History?

As the government moves to ban Palestine Action, are terror laws being used for 'political policing'?
Yvette Cooper
Protest

As the government moves to ban Palestine Action, are terror laws being used for 'political policing'?

Disabled protesters say they'll stop Labour's benefit cuts – or die trying: 'I will fight my heart out'
Protesters in Cardiff outside their local MP's office with a sign saying 'welfare not warfare'
Disability benefits

Disabled protesters say they'll stop Labour's benefit cuts – or die trying: 'I will fight my heart out'

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know

Support our vendors with a subscription

For each subscription to the magazine, we’ll provide a vendor with a reusable water bottle, making it easier for them to access cold water on hot days.